The San Francisco call., 1910-09-04

have shall be given. He was born, 1868,
in Marseilles, of wealthy parents. His
life was laid out for him in the easy
course of a gentleman of fashion, yet
in his twenty-seventh year he was to
astound the world and reap millions of
francs from "Cyrano and in his
thirty third year he was to break all
records by being admitted to the Forty
Immortals of the French academy The
scene of that triumph was quite as un-
usual as anything else in this unusual
mans life, for he came into the cham
ber dressed In green coat and trousers
with gold braid and spoke a smart and
witty diatribe upon half dozen differ
ent subjects, greatly to the astonish-
ment of the other members, almost all
of whom were old. deaf dignified and
dismayed. This honor of the academy
was one which had been denied to
Balzac, Dumas. Daudet and Jules Verne.
For the past eight years the world
of letters has been wondering just what
Rostand would do next. After his ILL
ness he retired to Cambo, as-Pyrenees
where he has chateau, and there, ac-
companied solely by his wife, he spent
most of his time in an endeavor to get
over his nervous prostration. Being a
man who takes very little exercise,
save that of riding a bicycle, and en-
dowed with none too sturdy a physique
he has had a difficult time of it. Ill
natured gossip and adverse criticism
both OF him individually and of his play
were responsible for his slow recovery
And then just as a waiting world had
about given up all hope of ever seeing
anything else from the Rostand pen, the
rumor went around that he was writing
some sort of a barnyard piece. AS long
ago as 1903 this rumor took definite
shape. That was the first mention of
"Chantecler."
seemed to come up to delay it's produc-
ton. Rostand could not get the scenes
to suit him; Rostand objected to the
costumes; Rostand swore that the act
ors could never learn to hop like birds;
Rostand had torn up the play. And so
on. Finally Coquelin, the elder, who
was scheduled to play the Cock, died.
The part was regretfully shifted to the
shoulders of Coquelin, the younger; and
suddenly he died At last. Lucien Gui-
try was given the part and at last the
play was produced.
Where did you get the idea for
Chantecler' friend one day asked
Rostand.
why, 1 happened to be taking
stroll in the country. Near my house
there was a farmyard One day l
walked in. I can still see that jolly
farmyard, flooded with sunshine and
peopled with all sorts of animals
dog. flock of chickens, hare, magpie
and on the wall a cage filled with birds
All those creatures seemed to be think
ing and saying a thousand things; sud
denly the cock entered. Great excite
menti You would have said the cocks
advent became the subject of fresh
conversations. And then, l don't know
why. all these animals seemed to me
like characters in a possible drama, a
drama of ideas and sentiments, with
the farmyard for its setting l saw
the play even before beginning It, And
I called II I'm Petit Coin du Monde 1t
was under that title that ii lived in
my mind for a considerable time Then
there appears d novel, very pretty
novel, bearing exactly that title. So |
had to change it.
AS matter of fact. the bird of
France is the rooster. 1t appears on
the new gold coins and elsewhere
Rostand. according to Henry James, is
just thorough Frenchman enough to
pull off" any French appeal he can
by any sort of trick; thus, in "Cyrano"
he embodied the wit and bravado OF
the whole French nation and especially
of the most popular section of the ma
tion-Gascony-unde the personality
of real Frenchman. a hero of the
earlier centuries. So that, possibly.
explains the deXterous knack of nam
ing his new play "Chantecler."