In one of the cities of the French valley of Chevreuse, you can see a monument to a man who was neither a famous commander, nor a great scientist, nor a genius writer, but, nevertheless, is known, perhaps, to everyone.
Monument to Cyrano de Bergerac, city of Bergerac, Chevreuse Valley
An incident in world history is rare, but by no means exceptional. In his famous novel, A. Dumas glorified the generally unremarkable campaigner Charles de Butz, Count d'Artagnan. The brilliant adventurer Casanova and the sculptor Cellini "made themselves" themselves, personally writing fictionalized memoirs. Less fortunate was Jeanne d'Arc's comrade-in-arms, Gilles de Rais, who is known throughout the world as the Duke of Bluebeard. And our hero became famous thanks to Edmond Rostand. “All my life I endured hardships, I did not succeed - and even my death!” - how much bitter irony is heard in the words put into the mouth of our hero by the French playwright. Immortality in exchange for the role of a comic hero! But who are we going to tell our story about? We will answer with the verses of Rostand:
“… Here is buried a poet, a bretter, a philosopher, Not resolving life issues;
Aeronaut and physicist, musician, Unrecognized talent
All my life chased by evil fate;
An unfortunate lover and a poor man -
Well, in a word, Cyrano de Bergerac."
Cyrano de Bergerac, portrait
The man who in the 17th century said: "Only Reason, only Reason is my master." Who, according to Théophile Gaultier, "deserves to be called a genius, and not a funny madman, as his contemporaries saw." And who unexpectedly "found himself in the shoes of a comic character, not even remotely reminiscent of the real Cyrano" (Jean Fresti).
He was neither a nobleman nor a Gascon. The grandfather of our hero, in whose honor he received the name Savignen during his baptism, was a fishmonger in Paris, and Cyrano, in fact, is not a name, but a surname. The family in which he was born was so wealthy that his grandfather could afford to buy two estates that had previously belonged to the noble family of de Bergerac. So Cyrano had a new "noble" surname, to which, in general, he had no rights. He "became" Gasconian in order to enlist in the Royal Guard, where preference was given to immigrants from Gascony. However, as often happens in life, the native Parisian Cyrano de Bergerac in his soul turned out to be a Gascon to look for. His friend Lebreu recalled many years later: “Duels, which at that time were perhaps the only and fastest way to become famous, immediately won him such fame that the Gascons … looked at him as a true demon of courage and counted so many fights for him how many days he was in the service. " It is interesting that just at this time the well-known Charles Ogier de Baz de Castelmore, Count D'Artagnan, who, for sure, was familiar with our hero, served in the royal guard. E. Rostan did not doubt this, describing their meeting as follows:
And you, by God, I like it, I clapped as hard as I could.
The duel was great.
And whatever you say, your tongue is sharp!"
Charles de Butz, Count D'Artagnan
Cyrano de Bergerac took part in two military campaigns (Thirty Years War), in each of which he was wounded: in 1639 during the siege of Muson, and in 1640 at Arras (Count d'Artagnan was also wounded there). The second wound (in the neck) was so serious that at 22, de Bergerac had to leave military service forever. Cyrano did not intend to abandon his habits and was still considered the most dangerous duelist in Paris. He was especially glorified by the legendary battle at the Tower of Nels, in which Cyrano and his friend François Linier were able to defeat ten assassins ("bravo"): two attackers were killed, seven were seriously wounded.
Nelskaya tower
However, it was at the same time that he took up literary activity, which brought him new fame in the Parisian drawing rooms. His pen turned out to be no less sharp than a sword, and he did not hide the reasons why he began to use a new "weapon": "What is the use of ink, except to denigrate the enemy?" - he rhetorically asked in one of his satyrs. Simultaneously with satire, pamphlets and epigrams, Cyrano de Bergerac wrote more serious works, and was quite popular. In 1646 his first play, The Fooled Pedant, premiered. The literary merits of this work are best evidenced by the fact that the great Moliere made two scenes from this play almost unchanged in his comedy Scapena's Tricksters. One of the phrases of this work by Cyrano ("What cholera carried him to this galley?") Became a catch phrase, and has survived in French to our time. In 1650, his novel The Comic History of the States and Empires of the Moon made a lot of noise in Paris, which, by the way, was translated into Russian (in Russia it was published under the title Another Light, or the States and Empires of the Moon).
States and empires of the moon
A number of literary scholars consider it the first European science fiction work, in which the author managed to anticipate a number of discoveries of the XIX-XX centuries. In two large vessels filled with smoke, with the help of which the prophet Enoch got to the moon, modern researchers saw a prototype of a balloon. But the flight described by de Bergerac was beyond competition: he was in the cockpit, which was carried into space by a multistage rocket (!)
"Know, then, that the rockets were arranged in six rows of six rockets in each row and reinforced with hooks that held off every half dozen, and the flame, having absorbed one row of missiles, was transferred to the next row and then to the next."
The next proposal to use rockets as a vehicle was made only 200 years later (Kibalchich). The fuel, however, turned out to be completely inappropriate - a mixture of dew (which alchemists considered a miraculous liquid that could dissolve gold) and saltpeter. The bovine brains with which he smeared his body (at that time it was believed that the Moon attracts them) helped to land the lunar. In the same novel, a device is described that looks like a radio receiver or a player: a book that requires ears, not eyes, to read. The message about "mobile homes" in which you can move from place to place is also interesting. By the way, in another, remaining unfinished work ("The Comic History of the States and Empires of the Sun"), Cyrano clearly describes electric bulbs: "inextinguishable lights", the light of which has the same origin as the light of lightning, extinguishing when their outer shell is destroyed. The description of social life on the Moon has the character of an intellectual and philosophical utopia. Inhabitants of the Moon, according to Cyrano de Bergerac, eat food vapors, sleep on flowers, and instead of candles use fireflies in crystal glasses. Instead of money on the moon, they pay with six lines, and the richest people are poets. During wars, brave men fight brave men, giants fight against giants, weak ones fight against the weak. Then the war continues in the form of discussions. In addition, Cyrano de Bergerac was the first to suggest that the gods are aliens from outer space. As for the big nose, mockery of which haunted Cyrano de Bergerac all his life, then for the inhabitants of the Moon it was a signboard, "on which it is written: here is a smart, careful, courteous, affable, noble, generous man."Snub-nosed men on the moon were disenfranchised.
Cyrano's literary opponent was the famous playwright Scarron: a retired guardsman mocked the "low and petty" themes of Scarron's comedies, and he, in turn, ridiculed his attempts to penetrate high society and vanity.
Scarron
They agreed in hatred for Mazarin.
Cardinal Mazarin, portrait
Scarron was the first to write a poignant satirical pamphlet (as a result of which he lost his pension), he was supported by many authors who wrote hundreds of "mazarinas". Among them was Cyrano de Bergerac, who, in the burlesque genre, wrote one of the most brilliant mazarinades, "The Burnt Minister". However, he later changed his attitude towards the favorite of the Queen-Regent Anne of Austria, and in "Letter Against the Fronders" he sharply criticized his former allies. As a result, many of the friends turned their backs on Cyrano. Misfortune followed de Bergerac. After the death of his father, he lost all sources of income and was forced to find a patron in the person of the Duke D'Arpageon, to whom he began to devote his works. Because of the pain associated with the wounds and depressed morale, he began to take opium. This did not lead to good. His new play, The Death of Agrippina, was booed by the public. The trail left by De Bergerac in French literature turned out to be ephemeral: in 1858, Paul Lacroix wrote about him in the preface to a newly published small collection: "Everyone (de Bergerac) knows him, but no one read him."
The end of the life of the poet, hero and duelist was sad. One evening a beam fell on him from the top floor of a building under construction. There were persistent rumors that the accident was set up by de Bergerac's numerous enemies, who did not dare to openly oppose him. He survived, but remained crippled, the former patron kicked him out of the house and the last days of his life Cyrano spent in poverty. He died in 1655 at the age of 36 and was forgotten for almost 250 years. The resurrection of the hero took place on Christmas Day 1897, when the premiere of the heroic comedy "Cyrano de Bergerac" by Edmond Rostand was held with great success at the Parisian theater "Port-Saint-Martin". On the eve of the performance, Rostan did everything to "fill up" the production. Not only did he fall into the deepest depression and was already sorry that he had gone on such an adventure, but he tried to infect his mood and "dampen" the theater troupe, a couple of minutes before the curtain went up, asking everyone for forgiveness for the hopeless and mediocre play he had written. He still did not manage to spoil the premiere: the success of the performance exceeded all expectations.
Edmond Rostand
Cyrano de Bergerac, French edition
Cyrano de Bergerac, an adventurer, a brether and a writer, “rose again” on the theatrical stage, but, alas, he appeared before the audience in only one of his incarnations. And now, for the overwhelming majority of people, he is just a long-nosed rake suffering from an inferiority complex, a careless reveler and a duelist, but, in general, a nice and handsome guy, always ready to repulse enemies with a well-aimed word and a sharp sword.
“The cloak has risen behind, supported by the sword, Like a cock's tail, with careless courage."
(E. Rostan).
Gerard Depardieu as Cyrano de Bergerac, 1990 film
