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

Guignol embarks on a hot-air balloon set for the Moon, in order to escape poverty and make his fiancée’s dreams come true. The balloon takes him first to the Mer de Glace (a glacier in France), then close to the Sun, and finally to the Moon. Guignol is captured by the guards. But when he meets the king of the Moon, he succeeds in convincing him that it would be more profitable for him to keep him as an ally, since he could establish trades between the Moon and the Earth. Guignol also shows the king the power of firearms, which are manufactured on Earth. Firearms being a lot more effective than the low-tech weapons of the Moon, Guignol promises the king that they will help him subdue an enemy neighbour. He is then appointed general. Gnafron and Madelon eventually travel to the Moon too, and the play ends with a feast.

Lyon

Manuscript

Excessive drinking

Cosmic journey

Gas balloon

Parachute

Communication

Bear

Army

Parodistic

Fantasy

First page of the handwritten manuscript of Guignol dans la Lune

Pièce féerique en 8 tableaux

Guignol

Gnafron

Madelon

Prosecutor

Queen

Prime Minister

Soldier

Change of social status

Allusion to current literary events

Metadiscourse on puppet theatre

Dialect as a social marker

Letter

Pyrotechnics

Reunion

Guignol dans la Lune

Guignol on the Moon

Sir William comes to Guignol to suggest that he and Gnafron go sell pills and polish in Africa. The pills would whiten black people’s skins, and the polish would keep intact the skin colour of everyone who would like to stay black. The two friends accept, unaware that the commercial journey is a cover for the true mission, which is to stop captain Marchand from reaching Fashoda. They are joined by doctor Béziclier, who studies races, and his daughter Luce. In Africa, Gnafron’s business is not going well—nobody wants to buy the pills. On the other hand, Guignol’s polish sells very well. Guignol and Luce are in love, but Béziclier has already promised his daughter to their guide Friponi, who actually works for the British. Yet, the Italian man does not love Luce, who is only a means to his ends. With the help of Bétéké and his companions, he kidnaps Luce and Naora, the slave who travels with her. Friponi then brings the bad news to the doctor and to Guignol and Gnafron, and then goes to the two women’s “rescue”. He makes Korouto, the king of Bangala, believe that the French plan to “slaughter everyone and wipe everything out” and that he himself – Friponi – can prevent that from happening. To do so, he will need Korouto’s army, which the king agrees to lend him. Because the Italian does not need Luce, the king suggests that she be proposed to Joudochik, the king of a neighbouring land. Naora is in fact Korouto’s daughter. She explains to her father that the French have come to trade – not to wage war – and that Friponi is the real villain. The king understands that he was mistaken and decides to help the French find Luce. Joudochik is willing to give Luce back to Guignol, if she does not curse him. Luce agrees and promises him prosperity instead. Friponi understands that he has to stop the French on his own, and so he sets the forest on fire. Guignol and Gnafron catch and then kill him. Guignol and his friends arrive at Fashoda and befriend the Mahdi – the leader of the Soudanese people. Major Marchand announces that the Congo-Nile road has been drawn. Sirdar Kitchener, an English officer, contests it: Khartoum and Fashoda are theirs. The Major says that his soldiers would rather die than retreat, so the English pulls back in the end. The French have won Fashoda.

Not specified

Raciology

Racism

Slavery

Homeland

Woman doctor

Kidnapping

Colonialism

Africa

Tony Tardy, Guignol à Fachoda (title page)

Italian

Traitor

Doctor

Prussian

English man

Colonel

African

Counselor

Sudanese

Commanding officer

Jean-Baptiste Marchand

Lieutenant

Officer

Horatio Herbert Kitchener

Rifleman

Senegalese

Slave

Peuples noirs de l'Oubanghui et du Soudan

Versified passages

Off-stage voice

Comical foreign accent

Song

Final song

Apotheosis

Guignol à Fachoda

Guignol at Fashoda

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.