Dragonne, the Génie’s daughter, is bored. She can neither talk with humans nor leave the forest, because the rivers are controlled by her father’s enemy, Fée Écrevisse (Fairy Crayfish). Being far-sighted, the Génie has prepared a gift for his daughter: the Jam-e-Jam Numai, or the mirror of the universe. This magical mirror shows everything one could want to see, across the entire world. However, the Génie imposes a condition on his daughter: she must never say the name of Fée Écrevisse; if she does, she would fall under her power – irreversibly so. Once she has the mirror, Dragonne watches a fight, hoping that she will find her husband. She focuses on a young warrior, Prince Belle-Épine (Beautiful-Thorn). She orders her father, the Génie, to plan her wedding with this knight. However, the young man is under the protection of Fée Écrevisse, and the king has already decided to marry him to his own daughter Églantine (French medieval name, literally meaning dog rose). Furious, Dragonne laments her fate and says that she is the most unhappy person in the world. Then, looking into the mirror again, she sees the princess Églantine: she orders the Génie to abduct her and make her prisoner. Prince Papillon (Butterfly) arrives at the king’s palace. Chevalier Belle-Épine, the king’s future son-in-law, has given princess Églantine three magical animals: a cat whose fur bristles every time someone tells a lie, a serin that can speak, and a mouse that can sneak everywhere. However, many at court are against this wedding: they do not trust a man capable of obtaining such gifts. Prince Papillon arrives and immediately seduces the entire assembly. He reveals that he has been defeated by Reine Abeille (Queen Bee); he asks the king to protect him. Benevolent, the king offers to accommodate him for three days at the palace. The audience then learns that Prince Papillon wants to marry Princesse Églantine. The third scene begins with Princesse Églantine going missing. The entire court accuses Chevalier Belle-Épine, because the magical animals he has given the princess have also disappeared. Soon after, Prince Papillon also vanishes. Distraught, the knight asks Fée Écrevisse for help: no one but her can counter the power of the Génie, who is the only one capable of catching the magical animals. In the fourth scene, Princesse Églantine, the animals and Prince Papillon are in Dragonne’s cave. The latter wonders whether Chevalier Belle-Épine will come to save his beloved. She demands that the prince and the princess marry, so that the knight can stay with her. She locks them both in a cage, with the animals. The mouse escapes and the serin points the princess to the magical mirror, which is behind the cage. Thanks to it, they can know what is happening in the kingdom. In a hurry, the knight steps on the mouse and kills it. Dragonne comes back; thanks to the mirror, she sees the knight approaching the cave. She hides the prince and the princess in a place even more secret. Meanwhile, the cat manages to leave the cage and hides.
Dragonne welcomes the knight and relates that she saw Princesse Églantine, radiant, in the forest, walking with a prince that looked like a butterfly. The knight takes her word for it. However, the cat suddenly crosses the stage; his fur is bristling. The knight understands that he has been lied to: he declares that he loves Princesse Églantine and promises to take revenge. He steals the magical mirror to give it to Fée Écrevisse, who would do anything to obtain it. Dragonne tells the knight to bid the princess and the prince goodbye, as they will be left with the tigers in the forest. But the knight runs towards the mirror and calls Fée Écrevisse: she appears, furious. With a magical gesture, she turns Dragonne into a lioness. The knight and Princesse Églantine’s wedding can finally be celebrated. The fairy also conjures Reine Abeille, so she can resolve her conflict with Prince Papillon. After a short but decisive conversation, Reine Abeille agrees to marry Prince Papillon. Together, they go back to their kingdom.

String marionette

Young audiences

Bernard Laure

France

Le Havre

Printed

Father-daughter relationship

Forest

Whim

Fairy

Magic

Prince

Knighthood

Rivalry in love

Kingdoms

Princess

Kidnapping

Happy marriage

Fantasy

Illustration for Le Jam-e-Jam Numai ou Miroir magique (Laure Bernard, Théâtre de marionnettes, 1837).

French

King

Knight

Genie

Daughter

Queen

Nurse

Governess

Dancer

Mouse

Bird

Apparition of a genie

Object magically appearing

Talking animal

Aside

Initiatory quest

Hidden character

Metamorphosis

Magical formula

Character represented in animal form

Change of head on sight

Le Jam-e-Jam Numai ou Miroir magique

The Jam-e-Jam Numai or the Magical Mirror

As a conversation goes on between Cassandre and Pierrot (his servant), we find out that Arlequin wishes to marry Isabelle, Cassandre’s daughter. However, Cassandre wants her to marry someone else. Pierrot takes advantage of the conversation to talk about the rumours going around in town regarding a witch. Cassandre, sceptical, does not believe them. Later, Arlequin relates having met an elderly lady who turned out to be a witch. Shortly afterwards, the lady appears and promises Arlequin a magic power if he becomes her spouse. He refuses and runs away with Isabelle. Suddenly, l’Amour (Love), the Bon Génie (Good Genius), appears in front of Arlequin and Isabelle. He recommends that Arlequin searches for a hazel branch that will be their talisman. However, their plan is soon exposed: the whole Caverne du Sabbat (Sabbath Cave) quickly discovers Arlequin’s intentions. At the same time, Cassandre and Pierrot start looking for Isabelle and Arlequin. In the end, Arlequin manages to get the magical talisman and finds Isabelle. Pierrot and Cassandre, still looking for Isabelle, fall into the earth where an enchanted broom relentlessly chases them, but they escape it.
 Arlequin and Isabelle are still running away while Cassandre and Pierrot keep trying to catch them. However, it is almost midnight: the witch’s powers over Arlequin will soon disappear. At the last moment, the witch manages to capture the lovers, but the Génie appears and reminds her that the evil hour has come. Powerless, she disappears. The Génie promises to take Arlequin and Isabelle to a city full of happiness, and to bring Cassandre and Pierrot as well.

Paris

Manuscript

Servant

Wedding

Love

Sorcery

Talisman

Sword

Chasing

Happiness

Comical

Le Balai de la Sorcière, first page of the manuscript.

Cassandra

Arlecchino

Pierrot

Witch

Music

Magical disappearance

Prologue

Apparition

Blow

Apparition of demons

Chase

Visual pun

Demons dance

Le Balai de la Sorcière

The Witch's Broom

The widow Schulzen is as happy about her daughter Rosa as she is worried about her son Peter. This wild child with tousled hair and long nails stopped going to school, has no respect for anything or anyone, and his persistent acts of mischief targeting the villagers could send him to prison. Rosa leaves the house and sets out to find the wizard Albaras, who appeared to her in a dream and promised to improve her brother’s behaviour. Her quest takes her to the court of King Arthur, whose son Tugendreich is old enough to marry and take charge of the kingdom, but wallows in the increasingly insolent jesting of his servant Kasper. His jokes go far enough that he is soon driven out of the kingdom as a bad subject. He wanders in the mountains where Albaras’s castle stands and, reformed, decides to become his servant. In the meantime, Peter became a drifter: he too crosses paths with Albaras’ servant, but he makes fun of his face because it is black, and spirits start possessing him. Rosa comes in, after a long journey from the king’s court. Albaras urges Peter to turn his life around, but he refuses stubbornly. As a punishment, the spirits dip Peter into a large inkwell, until he is completely black. As for Rosa, she came back to her mother’s house. Kasperl joins them with Peter, who is now clean and obedient. Prince Tugendreich then comes in and proposes to Rosa, who he saw at his father’s court. Albaras appears and ends the play.

Apel Heinrich

Germany

Saxony

Disobedience

Childhood

Education

Wickedness

Disrespect

Respect

Vagrant

Good-for-nothing

Learning

Journey

Inkwell

Didactic

German

Der Strubbelpeter

Die Reise ins Zauberland

Kasperl

Marshal

Magician

Famulus

Widow

Schoolteacher

Peasant (man)

Laundress

Dream

Address to the public

Der Strubbelpeter im Tintenfass

Shock-headed Peter in the inkwell

Bouffefeu (Eatfire), the director of the theatre, announces that he is going to tell a rewritten version of Pinocchio’s adventures. Just as he is about to start carving a piece of wood, Père (Father) sees it morph into a puppet. He adopts it as his own child and, even though he is poor, gives it all he can. Instead of going to school, Pinocchio, accompanied by Grillon (Cricket), sells everything he owns to enter the funfair. Bouffefeu, the owner of the funfair theatre, takes pity on Pinocchio’s poverty and gives him five coins. They decide to head home and meet Chat (Cat) and Renard (Fox) on the way. Pinocchio shows them his money. Then, Chat and Renard dress up try to steal his money but Pinocchio and Grillon manage to escape and hide from them. On the advice of Fée Bleue (Blue Fairy), the allegory of Pinocchio’s mother, they hit the road. They encounter Chat and Renard again, who make Pinocchio believe that if he if he sows his money, a tree will grow out of it and will produce new coins. Pinocchio is gullible; he believes them and complies.
At another funfair, the Bonimenteur (Barker) changes him into a donkey, but he manages to escape. In the stomach of a sea monster, Pinocchio and Grillon find Père again. The three of them manage to get back onto dry land. Back to the Field of Miracles where Pinocchio buried his money, Pinocchio discovers trees laden with gold coins. He meets the Fée Bleue who lets him decide between becoming a real little boy or remaining a puppet. He chooses to remain a puppet so that he can always be a child in his father’s eyes.