SWIFT AND DEFOE ON THE FRENCH STAGE. "THE English romancers
have invaded the French stage, and triumphantly taken possession of a part of its domain." So says one of the Parisian theatrical critics, after summing up the successes lately obtained by dramas founded on English stories. The number of these pieces is by no means inconsiderable, and the taste for such adaptations appears to be on the increase. Hamlet has appeared at the Gaits as a five-act tragedy, and it is said that it is about to appear in a lyric form at one of the opera houses, on which occasion Ophelia is to sing her last song as she floats down the stage, borne along by a stream of real water. Romeo and Juliet also will appear under two forms this year, a literal translation of the play having been undertaken by Alexandre Dumas the elder. Sir Walter Scott has recently con- tributed La Jolie Fills de Perth and Le Templier, an opera founded on the story of Ivanhoe. At the Gelid they have lately been playing Arrah-na-Pogue under the title of Jean la Poste, and at the Ambign Comique the adventures of Mr. Harrison Ainsworth's Jack Sheppard have long delighted the spectators of Les Chevaliers du Brouillard. Most of these pieces offer many points of interest to the English reader ; but none of them are, on the whole, so edifying as those which form the subject of the present article—the recent adaptations of Gulliver and of Robin- son Crusoe.
The first scene of Les Voyages de Gulliver introduces us to " La tante Gibbson," at whose house a Christmas party is about to take place. A number of friends and relatives are met together to celebrate the festive occasion, but Diana, the niece of the hostess, is absent. It appears that she has set out that afternoon on horseback, to act as guide to her brother, who has been invited to spend his Christmas at Brid Hass Scott. As that singularly _named spot is "tout pres de la frontiere d'Ecosse," and Diana lives at Bristol, it is not surprising that it takes her several hours to perform the double journey. Meantime, Gulliver, who is to become her husband on the morrow, arrives, and remarks that he is a little late, having been detained by a friend, who insisted on his drinking half of " un baril de pale-ale." The company then give themselves up to revelry, in the midst of which Diana returns from her trip to Scotland and favours them with a song, in which she relates her adventures. One of the guests immediately falls in love with her. His name is Rock, and he is captain of .a vessel on board of which her brother, Henry Gibbson, is engaged to serve as cabin boy. The captain has come to seek the young sailor, for his ship is to weigh anchor the next morning. So greatly does he admire Diana, that he determines to break off her intended marriage. So he plies Gulliver with punch and stories of adventure by sea, till he induces that bibu- lous and credulous young man to give up his home and his betrothed, in order to sail away to the southern seas. The captain also commands a secret agent to carry off Diana, and convey her to meet him " under the banyan tree at Baratta, in Hindustan." But Diana, who has discovered that her lover is deserting her, dresses herself up in the clothes of her brother, whom she greatly resembles in appearance, and so gets admitted on board the ship just before it sails. And therefore, when it leaves Bristol Harbour, it takes with it Gulliver and Diana, and a big box in which the Sheriff Bichoffson, an official busybody • Les Voyages de Gulliver. Piece Fantastique en Qaatre Aetes et Trente Tableaux. Par MM. Clairville, Albert Monier, et Ernest Blum- Musky:Le Nouvelle, de M. Victor °Uri. Librairie Internationale, Paris. 1867.
Robinson Crusoe. Op5ra Comique en Trois Actes. Par Eugene Cormon et H. Orinaieux. Musique de Jaeqaes Offenbach. Michel Ldvy, Paris. 1807. connected with " policeman," had concealed himself, not knowing that it was going to be sent on board. Unfortunately, all goes ill with the vessel, and the sailors soon become persuaded that it is enchanted ; so they determine to kill Gulliver, whom they con- sider a dangerous sorcerer. Their plan is overheard by the Sheriff, whose box has been carried into their cabin, and he warns Gulliver, who induces him to jump overboard, after furnishing him with a liberal supply of swimming-bladders. Gulliver follows, and the ship sails away from the adventurous couple, who contrive to get upon a mass of floating ice. After a series of narrow escapes from the attacks of bears, walruses, and seals, the fugitives reach the fly- ing island of Laputa and the Court of King Quotient XXIII. They are kindly received by that mathematical monarch, whose daughter, the Princess Volantine, immediately recognizes in Gulliver the ideal she has all her life been seeking. Eight-and-twenty times she has been engaged to be married, but each time she has broken off the engagement, not being able to abide lovers whose thoughts are entirely occupied by arithmetical calculations. So she orders him to marry her, and he is obliged to feign consent. But as soon as he is alone with Bichoffson he pushes the Sheriff over the edge of the island, which is just then hovering above a river, and then jumps after him. The King and his courtiers arriving soon after- wards, their hands cased in white kid gloves in honour of the marriage ceremony which is about to take place, discover that the bridegroom and his friend have fled. The princess is furious, and orders her Royal parent to moor the island, and seek the fugitives. Her orders are obeyed, and the distinguished party step on the earth, happening to alight on the very spot in India where Captain Rock, attended by his crew, is awaiting the expected arrival of Diana. Just at that moment that adventurous young lady, in her sailor boy's disguise, has been obliged to drink and smoke, until, becoming slightly intoxicated, she runs up to the Princess Volantine and kisses her. The Princess immediately tells her father to put on his white gloves and celebrate her marriage with the sailor who has had the audacity to salute her, and the scene ends with the departure of the whole company to prepare for the wedding.
In the next act, we find Gulliver and his friend in the Kingdom of Horses, a strange country, of which the principal inhabitants appear to be young ladies who wear a thorse's head and neck, and very little else. Here the travellers find one day an enormous egg, which they break with their umbrellas. Immediately the Genius of Travel, _who has been shut up inside, springs out of it, and, after singing his own praises in eight stanzas, transports his deliverers to the bottom of the sea. After having admired the corals and madrepores which ornament it, they are wafted by the grateful genius to the spot where Diana is being conducted by the wedding guests to the Gate of Flowers, inside of which, if she steps, she will fall into the power of Captain Rock, who turns out to be a darkly designing wizard. Gulliver arrives only in time to see her disappear among enchanted flowers and fountains, and magic palaces of crystal. In the next act the two travellers sud- denly find themselves in Lilliput, and in that which follows it in the land of Giants. The little people are represented on the stage by puppets, and so are the giants, with the exception of a huge baby in a go-cart, represented by a young actress, whose excellent acting is the sole source of amusement during several wearisome scenes totally unfitted to amuse any but very juvenile spectators.
From these we pass to the close of the play. Captain Rock, no longer young and vigorous, appears in his true character as the feeble and ancient Sorcerer of the Waters. He explains to his captives, Diana and the Princess Volantine, that he must die almost immediately, unless some young lady will be good enough to marry him. He has entrapped Diana in order to persuade her to do so, in which case he will recover his youth. She refuses, however, to give up her Gulliver, and the sorcerer is in despair, when suddenly the Princess declares she wants to get married very much, and is ready to accept him as her husband, rather than remain any longer a spinster. The Sorcerer instantly assumes a youthful shape, and turning to Diana and to Gulliver, who at this moment appears on the stage, exclaims, " Soyez henreux ! partagez mon bonheur." The piece ends with an apothe'ose finale, in which the Sorcerer is seen being married to the Princess, and Gulliver, with Diana and the Sheriff, preparing to leave for England.
About as nonsensical as this travesty of Gulliver is that which MM. Cormon and Crdmieux have made of the story of Robinson Crusoe. The two pieces resemble each other in many respects, and especially in their opening scenes. In the present case, as in the former, the rising curtain discloses a domestic interior. Sir William Crusoe is reading the
Bible on one side, on the other his niece, Edwige, is cutting bread and butter for tea. Beside the old gentleman sits spinning his wife, Deborah, and Suzanne, the maidservant, moves to and fro in the room. All are awaiting the arrival of his son Robinson, whose erratic movements are a subject of much anxiety to his relatives. At length that volatile youth appears, and explains that on the morrow he is about to commence the study of the law in the office of is procureur du district. The family group breaks into joyous song, describing the happiness of an English Sunday evening, when, after a meal of " sandwiches " and " wisky," the hour arrives devoted to the dance. But after his relations have gone to bed, Robinson informs his humble friend Toby, who frequents the house in the capacityof admirer of Suzanne, that he has noidea of becoming a lawyer, but is on the point of starting for the East Indies, in order to make his fortune there, like his fellow townsman Jim Coks, who was formerly ",Maitre d'hotel chez Lord Gouvernour." His confes- sion is overheard, and his relations do what they can to detain him ; his cousin Edwige, for instauce, candidly informing him that she hi in love with him. But all is in vain. He assures Edwige that he is equally in love with her, but that it is absolutely necessary for him to go away in order to make money enough to live on. So he exchanges an oath of fidelity with her, and departs. Of course, the ship in which he sails is wrecked, and the next act discovers him in his island home. There all is smiling and peaceful, and, as the curtain rises, " une symphonie donee exprime le calme de cette nature vierge." Presently Robinson appears, and explains his uncomfortable position on the island. He then indulges in a discussion with Friday on the nature of love. It is interrupted by the arrival of a party of savages, and Robinson and Friday take to flight. These savages have, it seems, taken prisoner Edwige, Toby, and Suzanne, who had set out to look for Robinson, and had been betrayed by the crew of their ship to a party of cannibals. Toby and Suzanne, who are now man and wife, make an appeal to the feelings of their captors, but at first it proves ineffectual. Presently, however, a huge cannibal comes up to them, tattooed all over, and carrying large rings in his nose. He turns out to be their former acquaintance, Jim Coks, who has been the victim of a series of disagreeable accidents. At first, he tells the captive couple he was taken prisoner by the Yellow Noses, but he was sold by them for a bottle of rum to the Red Hands. By his new masters he was very well treated, for they had a passion for music and the drama, and he succeeded in getting up an opera among them. He was fortunate enough to buy an excellent tenor for a pair of trousers, and for a time all went well. But one day the tenor disappeared, and it was discovered that his brother actors had eaten him, so nothing was left for the manager to do but to run away. He fled, but only to fall into the hands of the Green Feet, who made him their chief cook. In that capacity it will be his sad duty, he informs Toby and Suzanne, to roast or to boil one of them. He ought to cook them both, but out of friendship he will only take one. They must choose which of them is to be eaten. At first they declare they will die together, exclaiming, "The same spit shall unite us !" But on reflec- tion they consider they may as well avail themselves of the kind offer made them by Jim Coks, and each feels courageous enough to outlive the other. While they are disputing as to which of them shall be widowed, the savages appear, leading Edwige in triumph towards a large fire. At this moment Friday comes upon the scene, and fires a couple of pistols with such effect that the savages take to flight, and the captives are rescued. In the next act they are assembled in Robinson's hut, where Jim Coks meets them, he also having escaped from the hands of the cannibals. Robinson makes himself known to them, and they em- brace all round with tears. Edwige explains that after waiting six years for his return, she threw herself at the feet of his parents, exclaiming, " Il est temps, je veux partir," and then set out to seek him, accompanied by the faithful Toby and Suzanne. Unfortunately, those indiscreet friends talked so much on board the ship about the wealth Robinson had doubtless acquired,. that the crew determined to get rid of their passengers, and to seize his riches for themselves. So Edwige and her servants were handed over for a consideration to the cannibals, and then the sailors proceeded on their voyage of discovery. Scarcely has she finished her story when their ship is seen approaching the island. They land, and march up to Robinson's grot. But as they have the imprudence to leave their arms behind them, they soon find themselves placed in an uncomfortable position by the man they have come to plunder. At the same moment, also, a number of Tamoyos, members of the tribe to which Friday belongs, appear upon the scene, and at the request of their countryman, compel the sailors to remain where they are. Robinson and his
friends take possession of the ship, liberate those of the crew who had been locked up because they would not take part in the con- spiracy, and set sail for England. Friday accompanies his pre- server. He had been a little vexed at first when he found that Robinson, who had promised to share everything with him,
refused to carry out the compact in the case of Edwige, but he recovers his good humour after a time, and consoles himself by making love to Suzanne.
The name of Crusoe has proved somewhat puzzling to French ears, but with that of Robinson they have long been familiar, for there is a rustic tavern which bears it as a title. There the visitor who has a taste for the wild and independent life of the forest may eat his dinner under the shade of a tree, or even in the midst of its branches, a winding staircase enabliug him to mount aloft and sit ensconced in foliage. There,
" Snr Mumble esealier en spiral° Tour h tour s'dlance en riaut, La grisette sentimentalo Et l'intrdpide dtadiant."
And thence they depart in the evening, waking the echoes with the chorus :—
"Ali! gull est bon, bon, bon, bon, bon, D'aller diner a Robinson !"
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