Cadet Rousselle

 

Cadet Rousselle a trois maisons, 
Qui n'ont ni poutres, ni chevrons,
C'est pour loger les hirondelles

Reading a French text book a couple of days ago, I came across a word "hirondelle", "swallow". It sounded somewhat familiar and after a while it hit me that "hirondelle" was mentioned in a song that my friend used to sing at school. She was having French lessons, and I was doing English, so her singing was just a jumble of sounds for me. And now, 40 (!) years later, the words unjumbled themselves suddenly, and I was able to find the song. It is a nursery rhyme "Cadet Rousselle" and the text is rather strange, but then, nursery rhymes tend to have strange texts. Isn't it weird how memory works, though?

Here is the beginning of the song: 

Cadet Rousselle a trois maisons,

Cadet Rousselle a trois maisons,

Qui n'ont ni poutres, ni chevrons,

Qui n'ont ni poutres, ni chevrons,

C'est pour loger les hirondelles...

Cadet Rousselle has three houses,

Cadet Rousselle has three houses,

Which have neither beams nor rafters,

Which have neither beams nor rafters,

It's to house the swallows...

etc.

I figure that is a house has neither beams nor rafters, it probably means that it has no roof, either. And the figure of the Cadet comes from a rather strange statue of him they have in Auxerre. 

leçons de karaté

Si quelqu'un te frappe la joue gauche, prends des leçons de karaté // If someone hits you on the left cheek, take karate lessons -- Quino

Here is the cat, practicing his karate moves in front of a mirror. Looking good, no?
 

Un pessimiste

Un pessimiste est un chat qui dit la vérité prématurément // A pessimist is a cat who tells the truth prematurely  -- Edmond Rostand

 

Nuff said, really.

La formule ratée de la critique

La censure est la formule ratée de la critique // Censorship is the failed form of criticism -- Miss.Tic

 Today's quote from Citation Célèbre page seemed so much like a political commentary that I went to read around. And that's how I found out that Miss. Tic died two days ago. RIP.

Comprendre les questions

 

Je ne cherche pas à connaître les réponses, je cherche à comprendre les questions // I don't seek to know the answers, I seek to understand the questions -- Confucius

I don't know about you, but to me the phrase above is about university exams. You know, you get your selection of questions, and then a fog descends on your brain and you can't, for the life of you, understand what are they all about.

I am reasonably sure Confucius meant something else, something less practical, as he was wont to do. But I am no Confucius.

Unless I am badly mistaken, the diagram on the wall is showing the dreaded Krebs cycle. If so, the cat and his classmates must be doing a biochemistry exam.  No wonder he is just sitting there, staring at the questions.

Celui qui trompe

Celui qui trompe trouvera toujours ceux qui se laissent tromper // Those who deceive will always find those who allow themselves to be deceived — Machiavelli

Machiavelli was a clever guy.

Here is kitsune seducing the cat, for the reasons better known to herself. Maybe she just likes him, or maybe not. The mind of kitsune (狐) is unknowable.

The cat looks quite love-stricken already, I think.

la sagesse

Le doute est le commencement de la sagesse // Doubt is the beginning of wisdom

On citation-celebre.leparisien.fr website they ascribe the quote to Aristotle, but once you start looking for the confirmation, you find that it was also said by Pierre Abélard, René Descartes and probably few other wise people. So, a bit of a question mark there. Personally, I have no doubts about the idea expressed by the quote, which, in turn, must be an oxymoron.

The cat, being a simple creature, occasionally has his doubts, too. On this occasion he doubts if he should take red velvet or cherry mousse cake first.

Il n'est pas prudent

Il n'est pas prudent d'écarter de ses calculs un dragon vivant, quand on est près de lui // It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations if you live near him

 

The quote comes from The Hobbit.

You might think the cat is being impertinent, sitting on the top of a sleeping dragon to admire sunset. But he is not. Firstly, they are friends with the dragon. Secondly, nobody, not even dragons, can resist his feline charm. We all suspect that cats rule the world. Cats themselves just know it.

Pics related to dragons, sunsets and cats on shutterstock.

les loisirs

La société de masse ne veut pas la culture mais les loisirs // Mass society does not want culture but entertainment

 

Today's quote from Citation célébre, by Hannah Arendt, is somewhat heavier than their usual fare.

I find it difficult to disagree though.

Le jour de la marmotte

Jour de la marmotte// Groundhog day

 

Happy Groundhog Day to all of you.

In case you, like me, can never remember what the original reference is all about, here is an extract from wikipedia, to save you googling

"if a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day and sees its shadow due to clear weather, it will retreat to its den, and winter will go on for six more weeks; if it does not see its shadow because of cloudiness, spring will arrive early"

Or "if 2nd Feb is cloudy, early spring, if sunny - late spring" for short. Of course it kinda removes the groundhog from the  equation, but well, I am sure he doesn't mind.

The cat was going to hold a parasol over the emerging groundhog and thus bring in an early spring, but the day is cloudy and no interfering is needed. The groundhog looks mighty suspicious and might retreat into his den anyway though.

Le jour des Pingouins

Bonne journée! ... des pingouins  // Have a good day! ... of penguins

Today is Penguin Day, apparently. Well, according to some. According to others, it's on the 25 or April or something, and the words like "awareness", "consciousness", etc. tend to crop up, but that's just boring. Especially since the cat is already in his tux and his beak. 

So, Happy Penguin day to y'all.

And here are some seaglass penguins having fun, just for the heck of it

Penguins of all types on shutterstock - here

solar

Beaucoup d'amis sont comme le cadran solaire ; ils ne marquent que les heures où le soleil vous luit // Many friends are like the sundial; they only mark the hours when the sun shines on you.

 

Today I have decided to take my cue from the wordle. I won't publish it till the wordle change, of course. 

So "solar" -- solaire or du soleil in French. 

Found an appropriate quote from Victor Hugo and everything.

Meanwhile, the cat is trying to solve the "sundial in the dark" problem with some help from a torch. I think it is working for him.