Talk:Cadet Rousselle

Extra line

I learned this in French in High School. It includes an extra line not in the English version

Cadet Rouselle a trois maisons,
Cadet Rouselle a trois maisons,
Qui non ni poutres ni chevrons,
Qui non ni poutres ni chevrons.
Ce qui loge les hirundelles
Ce qui devez de Cadet Rouselle.
Ah, ah oui vraiment,
Cadet Rouselle est bon enfant!

—Preceding unsigned comment added by 138.89.94.61 (talk • contribs) 18:47, 4 July 2008

We've taken, and tried to translate, the text from fr:Cadet Rousselle (chanson). Perhaps we should reference that on the main page somehow? Regards, Ben Aveling 20:57, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Idiom

I believe that in French, "bon enfant," although it literally means "good child," is actually used to indicate that someone is mentally rather slow. So an idiomatic translation of that line in the song might be something like "Cadet Rousselle is a bit dim." — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jeremybornstein (talk • contribs) 07:34, 19 April 2015 (UTC)

No, it means good natured or easy going. Lard Almighty (talk) 09:44, 1 January 2019 (UTC)

@Lard Almighty: Are you sure? Both the English and the French Wiktionary entry for "bon enfant" lists "naive, simple-minded" as a possible meaning. In my opinion, something in that direction fits the song much better. Or why should all these crazy things make cadet Rousselle a "good boy"? --Nachtbold (talk) 19:16, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

Yup. See the link to Collins I supplied. Or this link. It certainly does not mean "mentally rather slow" rather more of a childlike innocence. Lard Almighty (talk) 20:09, 27 January 2021 (UTC)

Inconsistent and contradictory sources

The documentation of this song is inconsistent and contradictory. When researching this song, one finds shocking differences between the countless portrayals of it. Let me start with the most basic, but not in any way incidental example: the name of the writer. There are sources, and the Wikipedia is one of them, that trace the lyrics to a French intellectual named Gaspard de Chenu. However, a quick google search leads us to multiple websites that give us a different name, that being Chenu de Souchet. Now a not necessarily unlikely explanation for that would be that Gaspard de Chenu and Chenu de Souchet are the same person; however, I couldn't find any source in support of that. And even if it turns out that those two names do indeed refer to the same person, there is still another inconsistency that is much more fundamental. And that is the history of the song at its base. The most common narrative is that of Cadet Rousselle being a eccentric citizen of Auxerre that got mocked by a French nobleman. However, there are also sources that tell a completely different story. Some authors claim that Cadet Rousselle was the "regimental clown" of troops located in the Brabant. In order to "honour" him, soldiers converted the song about Jean de Nivelle into the song about Cadet Rousselle. We are in a difficult situation here. What gives us the right to declare one of those stories to be the correct one? Unless there is an undoubtable way of rendering one of them as false, we are forced to present both "theories" about the origin of this song. --Nachtbold (talk) 21:29, 5 February 2021 (UTC)

Where is the original?

The original French text of the song should appear next to the English translation/adaptation. 24.155.111.70 (talk) 19:08, 9 January 2022 (UTC)

Nutcracker ?

I would be glad to know where Tchaikovsky is using this song in his ballet, along with other songs, because i can't retrieve this section of the Nutcracker.

2A02:A03F:615C:9C00:A401:9DF7:FC76:BB2D (talk) 18:14, 23 March 2024 (UTC)