Seneca, it will be remembered, loved folly3 as little in a philosopher as in the fool by vocation4. “He,” observes the son of the Cordovaner, “who duly considers the business of life and death, will find that he has little time to spare from that study. And yet, how we trifle away our hours upon niceties and cavils5! Will Plato’s imaginary ideas make me an honest man?... A mouse is a syllable6, but a syllable does not eat cheese; therefore a mouse does not eat cheese? Oh, these childish follies7!... We are jesting, when we should help the miserable,—ourselves, as well as others.”
Jeanne, Queen of Charles I. of France, maintained a female fool of the name of Artaude du Puy, but of whom we know nothing more than that she cost her mistress, or rather the royal treasury8, a considerable sum, for dress. There is an unpublished autograph letter of Charles, dated January 3, 1373, an extract from which, printed by the63 author of ‘Les Monnaies des évêques,’ etc., shows that the King orders his treasurers9 to pay Jean Mandoli, furrier and citizen of Paris, the sum of 179 gold francs, for certain gauds and braveries of woman’s dress, furnished “to Artaude du Puy, Fole to our dear companion, the Queen.”
In 1429, we hear of a moult gracieuse folle (she is so called by St. Remy), whose name was Madame d’Or, and whose wit kept all the nobles laughing at the festival in honour of the institution of the Golden Fleece, at Bruges, in 1429. A folle was also attached to the household of Margaret, the granddaughter of Charles the Bold. Her position in the household is clearly ascertained10 by the fact that, when moving abroad, she followed her mistress in a chariot, accompanied by the “old ladies in waiting.”
In the succeeding century, in the year 1561, we find a woman, named La Jardinière, registered as “Fole de la Royne,” attached to the rather gloomy household of the Queen Dowager, Catherine de Medicis. Catherine seems to have patronized this sort of official, for in 1568, and for at least four subsequent years, there was a certain Jacquette, who held in the Queen’s establishment the office of “Plaisante de la Royne.”
As far, however, as witty11 license12 of speech went, Catherine’s court ladies not unfrequently excelled the court fools, male or female. They did not, indeed, let their lightly-hung tongues ring out at Majesty13 itself; but they observed no such restraint with anybody beneath the rank, even though the individual might be above the King himself in power. I may instance, as a case in point, the mighty14 Cardinal15 of Lorraine, who, despite all his puissance, was often the butt16 of the lively ladies of the Court of Catherine de Medicis and her royal sons. Brant?me says of this gay and intellectual priest, that, when things went well with him, his arrogance17 was insufferable; but that no one could be more courteous18, or more humble19, when his projects met with obstruction20.64 One of the Queen’s maids-of-honour, Mdlle. de la Guyonnière, afterwards Madame de Ligneroles, often carried on a fool’s war with the redoubted Cardinal. Whenever the latter appeared to be meek21 and polite with this lady,—she, who, according to Brant?me’s pleasant compendium22, “étoist très habile fille, belle23, honneste, et qui disoit bien le mot,” would, with audacious gaiety, exclaim, “Come, come, meek Sir, tell us now if you have not met with some check during the night past? Confess at once that you have been humbled24, or we will have nothing to say to you; for, most assuredly, you have encountered some defeat. So, let us hear all about it, if you would have us gracious with you.”
At a later period, we find another lady whose wit was wont25 to give mirth to courtly circles, if not to the French Court itself. I allude26 to the sister of that younger De Thou who was executed, by Richelieu, in 1642, for not revealing the conspiracy27 headed by Cinq-Mars, who had trusted the secret of it with his friend. In after-years, this lady attended the funeral service of the Cardinal, or a service held for the repose28 of his soul. And there she set the noble persons present into scarcely suppressed laughter, by exclaiming, as she gazed at the coffin29 where Richelieu lay, or was supposed to lie,—in the words of Martha to Christ, after the death of Lazarus,—“Domine, si fuisses h?c, frater meus non esset mortuus.” (“Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.”) It was very apt, though a little profane30.
To return to the official female fool, we must go back to the Court of the father of the King, under whom this lady lived, namely, the Court of Henri IV. There was there a Mathurine, who seems to have held the office of Plaisante, not to the Queen exclusively, but for the benefit and amusement of the Court generally. Of what quality was the wit of these plaisantes, some of whom I think were dwarfs31, I am unable to say; the only certain fact I can tell of them is,65 that they, though not more than the male fools, continued to wear out the soles of their shoes with great rapidity. The registers of accounts show an extraordinary consumption of shoe leather. In the ‘Collection de la Chambre des Comptes,’ under the year 1319, thirty-two pairs of shoes are set down as having been supplied at one time to the Queen’s dwarf32!
It is said of Mathurine that she employed her wit in laughing people out of the Huguenot faith into Catholicism. Mathurine was present in 1594 when Jean Chastel wounded Henri, in his attempt on that king’s life, and she ran great risk of sharing the fate of the would-be assassin, for the monarch33, aware of her frantic34 zeal35 for the Roman Catholic Church, and that she only looked on Henri as half a Romanist, or believing that she was playing too serious a joke by right of her office, ordered her under arrest as an accomplice36. Mathurine, however, proved her innocence37, and was set free. She died previous to the year 1627.
De Tillot quotes two authors who make mention of this female fool, Mathurine. The first is the anonymous38 author of ‘La Lunatique,’ who, addressing the King’s male jester, “Ma?tre Guillaume,” remarks: “Thou doest well to have small love for the Reformers. Satan himself looks on them only with regret; and for a good reason, seeing that if the Reformers could have their way, there would soon be an end of court fools and buffoons39. Ah, poor Mathurine, and you poor fellows, Angoulevent, Ma?tre Guillaume, and indeed all you other fools, as well without hoods40 as with, where would all your pensions be if the Reformers had the upper hand?”
It is a significant fact, this, of the Reformers being the opponents of the expensive follies, and their professors, patronized at Court. Ogive, the second author cited by De Tillot, speaks also of Mathurine, as a salaried fool, appointed by the King: “Folle à gages, et appointée du Roi.” He66 writes, in 1627, saying, “Truly it is a marvellous thing that noble personages, who have been brought up all their lives with the parrots and apes of the Louvre, and who do not less belong to the Court than Mathurine did, or the Queen-Mother’s dwarfs do, should not have learnt in their cabinets to write reasonably.”
Thirty-four years after this was written, a Spanish folle appeared at the French Court, and in rather suspicious society; that of Don John of Austria, who accompanied the famous Pimentel to Paris, to negotiate the marriage of Maria Theresa of Spain with the young Louis XIV. (a marriage which, as it was to put an end to the war, was more cared for by Mazarin than a union which might have taken place between the Cardinal’s most clever niece, Marie Mancini, and the French king). Don John had the impudence41 to present at court this woman, whom he called his “Folle.” She was full of fun and wit, and every one sought to excite both. Louis enjoyed her jokes with wonderful zest42. Her name was Capiton, and no party was thought complete without the presence of the Don’s Folle. The cudgelling of brains between her and Marie Mancini was a gladiatorial fight. Poor Marie had loved Louis, and Louis was warmly attached to a woman who had awakened43 in him the only good qualities he ever possessed44, and who saved him from being such a mere45 beast as his successor was. Capiton loved to provoke Marie, by singing the praises of the Spanish Infanta, and Marie, sharp-witted, as well as sharply wounded by these praises of a rival who was to triumph over her, replied by sarcasms46 that were repeated with intense delight throughout France. The haughty47, eccentric, coarse, and sensual Don John was proud of his Folle Capiton.
The official female fool survived as late as the year 1722, when we meet with a certain Kathrin Lise. She was the duly-appointed jokeress, if I may so speak, to the Duchess von Sachsen-Weissenfels-Dahme, who resided in the castle67 of Drehna, and depended upon Kathrin for her mirth. This is all we know of the last of the line of female jesters.
* * * * *
Before proceeding48 to sketch49 an historical outline of our own English fools, I propose to treat briefly50 of the Eastern buffoons. These may fairly claim precedence, on the ground that in the East the fashion of maintaining household fools is supposed to have originated, and that it has not yet expired in that locality. Further, there is, in connection with barbaric Courts, both in the East and the West, some legendary51 matter connected with the Fool, of which it may be as well finally to dispose, prior to dealing52 with the English jester as an historical character.
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1
contemplating
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| 深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想 | |
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calamity
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| n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件 | |
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3
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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vocation
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| n.职业，行业 | |
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cavils
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| v.挑剔，吹毛求疵( cavil的第三人称单数 ) | |
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syllable
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| n.音节；vt.分音节 | |
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7
follies
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| 罪恶，时事讽刺剧； 愚蠢，蠢笨，愚蠢的行为、思想或做法( folly的名词复数 ) | |
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8
treasury
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| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
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treasurers
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| （团体等的）司库，财务主管( treasurer的名词复数 ) | |
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10
ascertained
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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11
witty
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| adj.机智的，风趣的 | |
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12
license
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| n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许 | |
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13
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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14
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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cardinal
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| n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的 | |
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butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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17
arrogance
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| n.傲慢，自大 | |
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courteous
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| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
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19
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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obstruction
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| n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物 | |
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meek
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| adj.温顺的，逆来顺受的 | |
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compendium
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| n.简要，概略 | |
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belle
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| n.靓女 | |
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24
humbled
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| adj. 卑下的，谦逊的，粗陋的 vt. 使 ... 卑下，贬低 | |
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wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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allude
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| v.提及，暗指 | |
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conspiracy
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| n.阴谋，密谋，共谋 | |
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28
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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29
coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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30
profane
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| adj.亵神的，亵渎的；vt.亵渎，玷污 | |
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31
dwarfs
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| n.侏儒，矮子（dwarf的复数形式）vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的第三人称单数形式） | |
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32
dwarf
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| n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小 | |
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33
monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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accomplice
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| n.从犯，帮凶，同谋 | |
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innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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38
anonymous
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| adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的 | |
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39
buffoons
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| n.愚蠢的人( buffoon的名词复数 )；傻瓜；逗乐小丑；滑稽的人 | |
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40
hoods
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| n.兜帽( hood的名词复数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩v.兜帽( hood的第三人称单数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩 | |
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41
impudence
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| n.厚颜无耻；冒失；无礼 | |
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42
zest
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| n.乐趣；滋味，风味；兴趣 | |
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43
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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44
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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45
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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46
sarcasms
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| n.讥讽，讽刺，挖苦( sarcasm的名词复数 ) | |
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47
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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48
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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49
sketch
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| n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述 | |
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50
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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51
legendary
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| adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学） | |
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52
dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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