The king's daughter is to be married, but she will only marry a man who is both rich and intelligent. Known for his wit, Arlequin arrives at the palace, only to be beaten back with a stick by the Swiss guard at the entrance. Desperate, he confides his misadventure to a beggar, who suggests that he should become rich by setting up a business in beating people with sticks. Arlequin decides to do so. The customers, who come in great numbers, make his fortune. But Arlequin, increasingly revolted by their wickedness, ends up beating his customers with a stick. Rich enough and threatened with hanging by the Commissaire, he gives his business to Pierrot for free. Pierrot hangs the Commissaire, who has come to hang him, and comes to ask Arlequin for an explanation. Thanks to his wealth and wit, Arlequin is able to marry the princess and have Pierrot appointed as the new Commissaire.

Glove-puppet

All audiences

France

Paris

Duranty Louis Émile Edmond

Printed

Wealth

Witty man

Trade

Wickedness

Revenge

Discord

Scruples

Farcical

Satirical

Comical

French

Arlecchino

Swiss

Beggar

Peasant

Cassandre

Cassandra

Apothecary

Constable

Police Superintendant

Pierrot

King

Herald

Blow-with-a-stick

Hanging scene

Aside

Plot twist

Le Marchand de coups de bâton

Merchant of blows-with-a-stick

The rich Niflanguille goes to buy a bag of coal. He comes across the hungry Pierrot, who asks for his help in vain. The coalman cheats Niflanguille out of the weight of the bag. Pierrot hides in the bag and beats up the coalman, Niflanguille and the servant. Back home, Niflanguille looks for a sword to pierce the recalcitrant bag, but Pierrot gets it out in time and forces the servant to take his place. While Niflanguille pierces the bag and his servant with it, Pierrot runs away with a bag of money. A Gendarme wants to hang Niflanguille for murder, Pierrot for theft and the coalman for swindling. Pierrot kills the Gendarme and puts him in the sack, which he throws away, while Niflanguille flees through the window. Pierrot kills the coalman to avoid sharing the money, then orders wine which he pays for by beating the innkeeper with a stick. The Commissaire arrives with Niflanguille; he hangs Pierrot, but confiscates the money to punish the bad rich man.

Charcoal

Hunger

Poverty

Swindling

Deception

Contempt

Punishment

Money

Bad rich

Didactic

Coal merchant

Domestic servant

Hidden character

Running gag

Le Sac de charbon

The Bag of Coal

Carcassier, a soft cheese merchant, finds it hard to make a living from his trade. He would like to marry the governor's daughter, whose father would like to find her a rich and intelligent husband. His friend Barbantu offers to buy his cheese business on credit, but Carcassier refuses. Beaten by the Palace Doorman while trying to meet the governor's daughter, Carcassier is desperate. He meets a beggar who suggests that he learns from his misadventure and make a business selling sticks. Clients flock to Carcassier and he becomes richer, feeding the growing desire for revenge on his clients/victims. Feeling the wind shift, Carcassier gave up his business for free to Barbantu. The Commissioner arrives to stop this trade, arrests Barbantu and wants to hang him. Barbantu tricks and hangs the Commissioner instead. For his part, Carcassier goes to the Palace, offers his fortune to the Governor in exchange for his daughter's hand in marriage and promises to stop trading sticks. He convinced the governor to spare Barbantu and give him the vacant post of Commissioner.

Shopkeeper

Landlord

Gouverneur

Monologue

Comical regional accent

The Merchant of blows-with-a-stick

The Real Lady enters a shop to buy a foil that will accompany her in her social engagements. The Shopman first recommends her a “Real Horror”, whom she turns down. Then, he introduces the Real Artist, the Van Gogh model (only his legs and shoes are visible), but he growls whenever he hears about money and the Shopman advises her against buying it in the end. He suggests a Marionette instead – The Real Gentleman. The Real Lady inspects it closely, buys it and gets out of the shop with it, carrying it around on a leash. From behind a window, art historian John Ruskin and naturalist Charles Darwin followed and briefly commented on the scene. The interlude concludes with other remarks, from Buddha and Ahha, who appeared in a version of The First Prologue and who, accompanied by Parrot, were supposed to travel throughout centuries in the Drama for Fools initial project.