L’Aumône refusée
Link: On Canvas (no online copy)
Lyrics from Liner notes to CD (via Discogs)
Song title: L’Aumône refusée
Source: Marcel Bénéteau, À la table de mes amis (2000)
| Strophe | Rhyme | Line | Text | Translation |
| 1 | a | 1 | Père et mère qu’élevez des enfants, (bis) | O father and mother who raise children, |
| b | 2 | Corrigez-les dans leur jeune âge. (bis) | Correct them at a young age. | |
| a (p) | 3 | Pour moi j’ai bien élevé les miens, (bis) | As for me, I’ve raised mine well, | |
| c | 4 | Tout doucement, comme un bon père. (bis) | Very gently, like a good father. | |
| 2 | d | 5 | Chez mon fils bourgeois j’été, (bis) | I went to my gentleman son’s house, |
| a | 6 | Pour le lui demander l’aumône. (bis) | To ask him for alms. | |
| d (p) | 7 | La table était tout bien garnie, (bis) | The table was laid out really well, | |
| e | 8 | Garnie de tartes et de pâté-es. (bis) | Laid out with pies and pastries. | |
| 3 | f | 9 | Héla! Grand Dieu, qui est ceci, (bis) | Alas! Great God, who is this, |
| g | 10 | Qui est toujours rendu à ma porte? (bis) | Who is always coming to my door? | |
| c | 11 | Mon bon bourgeois, c’est votre père, (bis) | My good gentleman, it’s your father, | |
| a | 12 | Qui vient vous demander l’aumône. (bis) | Who comes to ask you for alms. | |
| 4 | f | 13 | Qu’on l’ôte ces pâtés-là d’ici, (bis) | Take these very pastries away from here, |
| h | 14 | Qu’on mettre le pain dessus la table. (bis) | Put the bread on top of the table. | |
| a | 15a | Qu’on lui donne un morceau de pain | Give him a piece of bread, | |
| a | 15b | Qu’on lui donne tout comme un chien. | Give it to him like a dog. | |
| g | 16 | Par dessour la sol de la porte. (bis) | Below the threshold of the door. | |
| 5 | d | 17 | Quand c’ le bonhomme fut retiré, (bis) | When the good man had left, |
| h | 18 | Ils ont mis les pâtés sur la table. (bis) | They put the pastries on the table. | |
| d (p) | 19 | Le premier qu’il a entammé, (bis) | As he was beginning the first one, | |
| i | 20 | Un crapaud lui saute au visage. (bis) | A toad jumped into his face. | |
| 6 | f | 21 | Héla! Grand Dieu, qui est ceci (bis) | Alas! Great God, who is this |
| i | 22 | Qui me déchire tout le visage? (bis) | Who’s tearing off my face? | |
| j | 23 | C’est une pénitence de Dieu, (bis) | It’s a penance from God, | |
| c | 24 | Pour avoir envoyé votre père. (bis) | For sending off your father. | |
| 7 | f | 25 | Vite, Saint Malcom, allez me le qu’ri, (bis) | Quickly, Holy Malcolm, go get him, |
| c | 26 | Vite, pour aller chercher mon père. (bis) | Quickly, to go and get my father. | |
| d | 27 | Quand c’ le bonhomme fut arrivé, (bis) | When the good man had arrived, | |
| k | 28 | Trouva son fils réduit en cendres. (bis) | He found his son reduced to ashes. |
Notes on the text: According to the liner notes, this is a Medieval song preserved in about a dozen versions throughout Quebec and Acadia; this version comes from Stella Meloche in Detroit, who learned it from her uncle.
Type: Strophic, narrative, ethical fable
Context: Perhaps could be sung at a soirée or other family gathering, considering it extols the value of hosting? Bénéteau’s presentation of the album might also suggest this.
Narrative:
Begins with an exhortation to parents in the first strophe; the next 6 illustrate a fable of a poor father and his well-to-do son. When the father comes to ask for some help and finds his son’s table already set with a decadent meal, the son acts annoyed and hides his food, slipping his father bread beneath the door ‘like a dog.’ As the son sits down to enjoy his pastry, a toad jumps onto his face and begins to destroy him; he sends for his father, but it’s already too late – by the time his father arrives, he’s reduced to ‘cendres!’
While the fun narrative is probably the focus here (the song lasts nearly 6 minutes), there is certainly an ethical element to it – the values of hospitality, sharing what you have, and family are all extolled. There’s also a theological element; the son takes God’s name in vain (not cool!) and ends up being stricken down by God for his complacency. Interestingly, I couldn’t find any ‘Saint Malcom’ in the Roman martyrology; perhaps this is a unique feature of the story, but as the only named character in the plot, I would expect there to be some context for this mention.
The text is generally not rhyming (with some exceptions in the beginning) and is repeated throughout – I think this heightens the tension of the narrative. Bénéteau also builds further tension with instrumental interludes between key plot developments, and a regular but surprisingly nonmetrical rhythm.
Information on Bénéteau himself is rather scarce; what I can find is that he’s a professor in Sudbury of Franco-American studies, and has catalogued thousands of Francophone songs from the Detroit region.
This song is performed in a more intimate, narrative style. Instrumentation includes guitar, Bénéteau’s voice, a background fiddle, jaw harp at the end, and what sounds like a mandolin, but they don’t all play at once. The emphasis is definitely on the text and the narrative; even the mastering of the recording brings this out.
The music deserves a bit of analysis as well, because of the interesting nonmetrical rhythmic scheme:
I think this could either be read as a sort of elided 6/8, or simply as groups of 2 and 3 pulses. The latter idea could be supported considering the musicians were familiar with Gregorian chant, only I’m not sure whether the idea of subdividing Gregorian chant into 2 and 3-pulse groups would predate the composition of this song. Either way, the rhythms ensure the music flows very nicely and the repetition never gets lugubrious, which is remarkable for a text this long.