| Title: | "Essai sur la musique ancienne et moderne" | |
|---|---|---|
| Author: | Jean-Benjamin de La Borde | |
| Published: | 1780 | Impr. de P.-D. Pierres, et se vend chez E. Onfroy |
| URL: | http://books.google.com/books?id=Jfo6AAAAcAAJ | |
La Borde is a source for a number of those who came after him. The following translation was provided to us by Clorinde, for which I am very grateful:
| Maupin ( La Dlle ), Actrice célèbre par sa voix, par sa figure & par son jeu, eut beaucoup de réputation, sur-tout quand la Rochois eut abandonné le Théâtre. Elle était née en 1673, du sieur d'Aubigny, Secrétaire du Comte d'Armagnac. Le sieur Maupin, de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, l'épousa fort jeune, & n'eut pas la précaution de l'emmener avec lui dans une Province où il avait obtenu une commission dans le Aides. En son absence, sa femme devint amoureuse d'un nommé Sérane, prévôt de salle, qui lui apprit à faire des armes, talent où elle excella, & qui lui sut utile plus d'une fois. Sérane & sa maîtresse s'enfuirent à Marseille, pour ne pas être troublés dans leurs amours; mais la nécessité les força bientôt d' entrer à l'Opéra, ayant tous deux reçu de la nature une très-belle voix, sur-tout la Maupin. Cette fille qui avait le goût de son sexe, sans haïr le nôtre, soupira pour une jeune Marseillaise qu'elle débaucha; on s'en apperçut, & l'objet de ses folles ardeurs fut renfermé dans un couvent à Avignon, ou bientôt elle la fuivit. S'étant présentée pour êrre reçue novice, elle fut admise. Quelques tems après, une des Religieuses étant morte, la Maupin l'exhuma, la porta dans le lit de sa Maiseillaise, y mit le feu, & prositant du nouble causé par l'incendie, enleva sa maîtresse. Elle fut poursuivie en Justice à Marseille, sous le nom de d'Aubigny quelle y portait, & fut condamnée au feu par contumace; ce que pourtant on n'exécuta point, parceque la jeune Marseillaise fut retrouvée & remise à ses parens. | Maupin (The Dlle), actress famous for her voice, her face and for her acting, was highly esteemed, especially after Rochois left the theater. She was born in 1673 to the Sieur d'Aubigny, Secretary of the Comte d'Armagnac. Mr. Maupin, of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, married her when she was very young, and did not care to take her with him in a province where he obtained a commission in the Aides. In his absence, his wife fell in love with a man named Sérane, a fencing instructor, who taught her swordfighting, a talent at which she excelled, and who was useful to her on several occasions. Sérane & his mistress fled to Marseilles to escape any difficulties their love might cause, but necessity soon forced them to join the Opera, both of them having by nature a very beautiful voice, especially (Mlle) Maupin. This girl, who liked those of her sex without hating ours, was infatuated with a young Marseillaise whom she debauched. People found out about it and the object of her mad fervor was confined in a convent in Avignon, where she soon followed her. Having presented herself as a would-be novice, she was admitted. Some time later, one of the nuns having died, Maupin exhumed her, put the body in the bed of her Maiseillaise, set it on fire, and profiting from the confusion caused by the fire, escaped with her mistress. She was prosecuted in Marseilles, under her own name of d'Aubigny, and was sentenced in absentia to death by fire, which however did not come to be, because the young Marseillaise was found & returned to her parents. |
| Elle revint à Paris, reprit fon nom de femme, et débuta à l'Opéra en 1695, par le rôle de Pallas, dans la tragédie de Cadmus, où elle eut le plus grand succès. Les applaudiffements étaient si forts qu'elle se crut obligée , quoiqu'étant dans son char , d'ôter de dessus sa tète son casque de Minerve, & de saluer le Public pour le remercier, ce qui redoubla les battements de mains ; & depuis ce temps elle ne céda d'avoir de grands succès, qui cependant ne purent égaler ceux de la Rochois. | She returned to Paris, took on her married name again and debuted at the Opéra in 1695 in the role of Pallas in the tragedy Cadmus, where she enjoyed great success. Her applause was so great that, although still standing in her chariot, she felt obligated to remove from her head Minerva's helmet and salute the audience in a gesture of thanks, which then redoubled its applause; and from that time on she continued to have great success, although not equal to that of Mlle Rochois. |
| Dumenil , Acteur de l'Opéra, l'ayant insultée, elle s'habilla en homme , l'attendit un soir dans la place des Victoires, & voulut lui faire mettre l'épée à la main. Sur fon refus, elle lui donna des coups de baron, & lui prit sa montre & sa tabatière. | Dumenil, an actor at the Opéra, having insulted her, she dressed as a man and lay in wait for him at the Place des Victoires, and challenged him to a duel. At his refusal, she gave him some strokes with a cane and took his watch and his tobacco case. |
| Le lendemain Dumenil s'étant vanté sur le théâtre de l'Opéra de s'être défendu contre trois voleurs : « Tu en as menti, lui dit la Maupin , » tu n'es qu'un lâche & un poltron ; c'est moi seule qui t'ai attaquée ; & pour preuve de ce que je dis, voici ta montre & ta tabatière que je te rends, après t'avoir bâtonné comme tu le méritais ". On imagine aisément la confusion de Dumenil. | The next day, Dumenil was boasting, at the Opéra, of having been attacked by three robbers. "You lie," said Maupin to him, "you are nothing but a weakling and a coward; it was I alone who attacked you, and to prove that what I say is true, see here your watch and your tobacco case, which I return to you after having given you the whipping you deserve." One can easily imagine Dumenil's embarrassment |
| Thévenard pensa être traité de même , & ne put éviter la vengeance de cette fille qu'en lui demandant pardon publiquement , après s'être caché pendant trois femaines au Palais Royal. | Thevenard thought himself treated similarly, and could not avoid that girl's vengeance, who made him apologize to her in public after having hid himself for three weeks at the Palais Royal. |
| Dans un bal, donné par Monsieur, frère de Louis XIV, elle se déguisi en homme, & tint des propos fort indécens à une Dame qu'elle voulait séduire. Trois amis de cette Dame voulant la venger , & prenant la Maupin pour un homme, la firent descendre dans la Place. Elle aurait pu aisément éviter le combat en se nommant ; mais elle mit aussi-tôt l'épée à la main , & les tua tous trois. Rentrant ensuite froidement dans le bal , elle se fit connaître à Monsieur, qui obtint sa grâce. | At a ball given by Monsieur, the brother of Louis XIV, she disguised herself as a man and made some very indecent propositions to a lady whom she wished to seduce. Three of the lady's friends, wanting to avenge her, and taking Maupin to be a man, made her go down to the square outside. She could have easily avoided the duel by telling them her name; but she took her sword in her hand at once and killed all three of them. Coolly returning to the ball, she told Monsieur, who pardoned her. |
| N'ayant pu toucher la fameuse Fanchon Moreau qu'elle aimait éperduement, elle se donna un coup de canif dans le sein pour se tuer; mais changeant bientôt d'idée , elle quitta la France, alla à Bruxelles , & y devint maîtresse de l'Electeur de Bavière. Ce Prince l'abandonna pour la Comtesse d'Arcos , & lui envoya, par le Comte d'Arcos , une bourse de 40000 livres, avec ordre de sortir de Bruxelles. Cette fille extraordinaire prie la bourse, & la jetta à la tête du Comte , en lui disant que c'était une récompense d'un m.... tel que lui. Aussi-tôt elle revint à Paris, rentra au Théâtre, & le quitta tout-à-fait en 1705. | Not being able to win the heart of the famous Fanchon Moreau whom she loved desperately, she tried to kill herself by stabbing herself in the chest with a knife; but soon changing her mind, she left France and went to Brussels, where she became the mistress of the Elector of Bavaria. The Prince abandoned her for the Countess d'Arcos and sent her, via the Count d'Arcos, a wallet containing 40,000 livres and the order to leave Brussels. This extraordinary young woman took the wallet in hand and, throwing it at the Count's head, saying it was what a m.... like him deserved. She returned immediately to Paris and rejoined the Opéra, which she quit suddenly in 1705. |
| La dévotion s'étant alors emparé d'elle, elle rappella son mari, qui était toujours en Province, & passa avec lui les dernières années de sa vie. Elle mourut vers la fin de 1707, âgée de trente-quatre ans. | Devotion having seized her once again, she rejoined her husband, who was still in the provinces, and spent the last years of her life with him. She died late in 1707 at the age of thirty-four. |
I'm actually amazed that an automated translation can be as good as it is, but of course it can't get everything right. I've cleaned up the Google translaton a bit here, though most of the mistakes are pretty obvious. My changes are in italics.
Maupin (The Dlle), actress famous for her voice, her face and for her acting, was highly esteemed, especially after Rochois left the theater. She was born in 1673 to the Sieur d'Aubigny, Secretary of the Earl of Armagnac. Mr. Maupin, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, married her when she was very young, and did not care to take her with him in a province where he obtained a commission in the Aides. In his absence, his wife fell in love with a man named Serane, a swordsmaster (or however you decided to translate "prêvot de salle"), who taught her swordfighting, a talent at which she excelled, and who was useful to her on several occasions. Serane & his mistress fled to Marseillesto escapse any difficulties their love might cause, but necessity soon forced them to join the Opera, both of them having by nature a very beautiful voice, especially (Mlle) Maupin. This girl, who liked those of her sex without hating ours, was infatuated with a young Marseillaise whom she debauched. People found out about it and the object of her mad fervor was confined in a convent in Avignon, where she soon followed her. Having presented herself as a would-be novice, she was admitted. Some time later, one of the nuns having died, Maupin exhumed her, put the body in the bed of her Maiseillaise, set it on fire, and profiting from the confusion caused by the fire, escaped with her mistress. She was prosected in Marseilles, under her own name of d'Aubigny, and was sentenced in absentia to death by fire, which however did not come to be, because the young Marseillaise was found & returned to her parents.
Changes to the French transcription (correction of word mis-recognition and spelling modernization) are in bold.
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Elle revint à Paris, reprit fon nom de femme, et débuta à l'Opéra en 1695, par le rôle de Pallas, dans la tragédie de Cadmus, où elle eut le plus grand succès. Les applaudiffements étaient si forts qu'elle se crut obligée , quoiqu'étant dans son char , d'ôter de dessus sa tète son casque de Minerve, & de saluer le Public pour le remercier, ce qui redoubla les battements de mains ; & depuis ce temps elle ne céda d'avoir de grands succès, qui cependant ne purent égaler ceux de la Rochois.
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| Dumenil , Acteur de l'Opéra, l'ayant insultée, elle s'habilla en homme , l'attendit un soir dans la place des Victoires, & voulut lui faire mettre l'épée à la main. Sur fon refus, elle lui donna des coups de baron, & lui prit sa montre & sa tabatière. | ||
|
Le lendemain Dumenil s'étant vanté sur le théâtre de l'Opéra de s'être défendu contre trois voleurs : « Tu en as menti, lui dit la Maupin , » tu n'es qu'un lâche & un poltron ; c'est moi seule qui t'ai attaquée ; & pour preuve de ce que je dis, voici ta montre & ta tabatière que je te rends, après t'avoir bâtonné comme tu le méritais ". On imagine aisément la confusion de Dumenil.
Dumenil, actor at the Opéra, having insulted her, she dressed as a man and lay in wait for him at the Place des Victoires, and challenged him to a duel. At his refusal, she gave him some strokes with a cane and took his watch and his tobacco case. The next day, Dumenil was boasting, at the Opéra, of having been attacked by three robbers. "You lie," said Maupin to him, "you are nothing but a weakling and a coward; it was I alone who attacked you, and to prove that what I say is true, see here your watch and your tobacco case, which I return to you after having given you the whipping you deserve." One can easily imagine Dumenil's embarrassment. |
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Thévenard pensa être traité de même , & ne put éviter la vengeance de cette fille qu'en lui demandant pardon publiquement , après s'être caché pendant trois femaines au Palais Royal. Thevenard thought himself treated similarly, and could not avoid that girl's vengeance, who made him apologise to her in public after having hid himself for three weeks at the Palais Royal. |
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Dans un bal, donné par Monsieur, frère de Louis XIV, elle se déguisi en homme, & tint des propos fort indécens à une Dame qu'elle voulait séduire. Trois amis de cette Dame voulant la venger , & prenant la Maupin pour un homme, la firent descendre dans la Place. Elle aurait pu aisément éviter le combat en se nommant ; mais elle mit aussi-tôt l'épée à la main , & les tua tous trois. Rentrant ensuite froidement dans le bal , elle se fit connaître à Monsieur, qui obtint sa grâce. At a ball given by Monsieur the brother of Louis XIV, she disguised herself as a man and made some very indecent propositions to a lady whom she wished to seduce. Three of the lady's friends, wanting to avenge her, and taking Maupin to be a man, made her go down to the square outside. She could have easily avoided the duel by telling them her name; but she took her sword in her hand at once and killed all three of them. Coolly returning to the ball, she told Monsieur, who pardoned her.
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| N'ayant pu toucher la fameuse Fanchon Moreau qu'elle aimait éperduement, elle se donna un coup de canif dans le sein pour se tuer; mais changeant bientôt d'idée , elle quitta la France, alla à Bruxelles , & y devint maîtresse de l'Electeur de Bavière. Ce Prince l'abandonna pour la Comtesse d'Arcos , & lui envoya, par le Comte d'Arcos , une bourse de 40000 livres, avec ordre de sortir de Bruxelles. Cette fille extraordinaire prie la bourse, & la jetta à la tête du Comte , en lui disant que c'était une récompense d'un m.... tel que lui. Aussi-tôt elle revint à Paris, rentra au Théâtre, & le quitta tout-à-fait en 1705. | |
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La dévotion s'étant alors emparé d'elle, elle rappella son mari, qui était toujours en Province, & passa avec lui les dernières années de sa vie. Elle mourut vers la fin de 1707, âgée de trente-quatre ans.
Not being able to win the heart of the famous Fanchon Moreau whom she loved desperately, she tried to kill herself by stabbing herself in the chest with a knife; but soon changing her mind, she left France and went to Brussels, where she became the mistress of the Elector of Bavaria. The Prince abondoned her for the Countess d'Arcos and sent her,via the Counte d'Arcos, a wallet containing 40,000 pounds and the order to leave Brussels. This extraordinary young woman took the wallet in hand and, throwing it at the Count's head, saying it was what a m.... (None of the sources write this out, but surely some insult deriving from "merde") like him deserved. She returned immediatey to Paris and rejoined the Opéra, which she quit suddenly in 1705. Devotion having seized her once again, she rejoined her husband, who was still in the provinces, and spent the last years of her life with him. She died late in 1707 at the age of thirty-four. |
Belated thanks for yur translations. I've incorporated them all into the text of the source. I made one or two small adjustments to the wording and took out the editorial asides, but the text now matches your comments.
Feel free to make any additional changes or corrections by hitting the "Edit" link that appears between the source text and these comments. You should be able to as you are now an editor.
Merci!
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