New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-10-11
A FRENCH NOVELIST.
ALPHONSE DAUDET AT HOME.
COPYRIGHT 1885.

not coutaOlous and his wit is of so delicate quail
itv that il loses its flavor in transportation de Is
pre-emlnently man of winged words-of outterhy
winged words / should say-designed 1or orleI
conversational flights and shrinking from inc
touch of reportoral fingers. AS think OF all his
delightful things which have heard him say ana
then attempt to put them down, cold-Dicooeol'' Ill
black and white, therefore experience an uhlore-
seen difficulty The brilliant remarks which
made me laugh. six years ago. seem no longer laugh
able. find that they depend to great extent
upon felictics of expression which often refuse 10
he transferred TO another tongue. They lack the
robust quality of our American jokes, wlnch' IL
they had been emba med with the Pharaohs Wou'u
vet arise with nnimpared vg0r after the lapse Vi
two thousand years 1t interested me to hear D'u-
det confess that he lacked totally tie comprehe"
sion of this kind of humor, and that he hai Stuulo
Mark Twain conscientIOusly without Delh3 oiioo
moved to laughter.
II was IN APRIL 1870, that had the pleasure Oh
making Daudet's acquaintance. IonrGueheh' "no
had way OF antic plting ones secret WISHES S'''"
to me one day:
..\yhv don't Won 90 and call on Daudetf He il
charming fellow with picturesque mar ana 'no
sweetest of temperaments. lie will say more clean
things TO YOU i'll an hour than any other fariSlah Ill
week." =,
Ideclared myself more than willing to Make NJ.
Daudets acquaintance, If | could procure 'he
proper credentials.
"If that Is all" said Tourguenef, " then eau
help you
Armed with note of introduction, abounding
III friendly superlative knocked at Daudct door,
which was on the third floor OF what had once
been the palace OF Lamoiguon, a large and gloomy
house with humid and weather-bcaten look. III
the story entitled " I'm Rcyei'lon dams lc Marais
in "COmtcs du Lundi' there IS an accurate de
scrptiOn of this house, as also OF the interior vi
that nook of it which the novelist inhabltS Nhlle
! WAS waiting iii the au.e-room for Daudets
appearance. heard child'svolce in the next room
reading with Il curious rising infection Mt the end
of each word: Monsieur Aphonse Daudet etalt
nc lie 13-Mai 1s4O-MonsieUr Alphonse Daudet
6t3it ne" Eyes, yes my son. another voice III
teTupted now know that was born. But 20
on ; tell me something now that do not know"
Tic little boy, III puzzled way
repeated once more the lnconttoVeruoie
fact Of his fathers birth. At this moment my let
fer of introduction was handed to Daudet ana he
arose instantly and gave me a most cordlai receP
tion "Here YOU see the results of Sedan, SIR he
said laughingy; "Our children have TO learn yer
man. But nv sons patriotism rebels against the
German grammar. have been giving him Ter
man review of my latest book to translate, or at
least to find out whether IT good or bad but he
refuses to tell me ANYTHING except that l was
born
To the little boy who seemed to be at least nine
wears old my arrival was evidently not uhWei-
come, as ii relieved him FROM the odlous task OF
translating German. lie seiz ID the earliest opp"r
tupitv TO disappear. 1 had IN the meanwhile an
oppcrtunIrv to make observations. Dau-
Diet IS small man, rather uuaer
middle height, but strkingly hahd-
come. His black hair which is parted III the thio-
die. hangs down upon his coat collar
HIS forkcd beard is dark brown ana
a little thin, His eyes are large, dreamy
and Southern. with soft. melancholy
expression The room presented to an Amer
can eve accustomed to the decorative Jury
of New-York interiors. rather barren appearance
The floor was uncarpeted except for little rug
under the writing table, aud the furniture e1-
hiblted no obtrusIve features. / have vague
recollection of maroon wallpapers, a big vas" of
Japanesc bronze and some scattered ilower-pots.
Wctalked for a while OF TOurguenetf, for whom
Dande, professcd the grcItest admiration
"What a luxury it mast be- he sand ito have a
great big untrodden blrbaric IanIulge TO wade
into We poor fellows who work in the langH%gc
of an old cIvhzqtion-we may sit and chlsel our
little verbal fehc:;ies only to ind IN the end that
III Borrowed level we are polishing The crown
teVeis of our French tongue have passed through
tie hands of so many generations of monarchS that
il seems ike presumption on the part OF any iaie-
born pretender to attempt to wear them
Illuminated that some or these iate-born pretend
80 had wIeiGed the f:@'": ',.@'1" WIN "a master!
scarcely equalled by any of Their predecessors
"Ah. yes; we have some very clever men now, as
we have always had" he replied; " but they all
suffer more Or less consciously from the fac. that
here almost everything has been done and aiil"''
everything said we'll as you can expect 10 TO OF
say H. But think of Iolrguenetf7s position. do
not say this to dsprrIge his merit, for no one can
admire him more warmly than l do. Bat imagine
what gloriously novel situations such seml-bar-
barrie life Must present; what strong primitive
tvoes; what startling problems. And II Russia
there is at present a conflict between European
civilization and Asialc barbariSm Bar
barisn is becoming conscious and feels vague
iative aspiration toward civilization. THINK
what chances there are for beautiful work Tor one
who has grown up with the creative instinct
among such conditions
/ found during my sojourn In Paris that num-
Der of more or less entertaining anecdotes concern
inc D,ndet we're in circulation, but had not quite
the audacity to repeat them to him ahd learn
whether they were Authentic. The nearest ap-
p-oach made to sucn question was when, on one
ocoasion asked him where could find reliable
account of his life.
The first fifteen chapters of my novel lie Petit
Chose are absolutely autobio3raplcal," he ans
wered, "even TO minute details. came to Paris,
not in sqbots IA so many celebrities nave done, but
in order to DC original, came in rubber boots
without any shoe, inside. 1t was bitter cold day
IN February that started from Sarandc. where |
had been tutor at the college. / travelled third
class I'd the journey top Irly two DAYS, during
which ate nothing. My God, how suifercdV
accordingly procurei lie Petit Chose and
found that it vouchcd for one Of tn! best anecdotes
Of the series which had been reported to me.
When Daudet arrived III Paris Ia
Iis faf lcr