IV. A philosopher
4 – 1 – 1 A huge meeting
An elderly gentleman dressed in white, he’s sitting alone
on Sunday afternoon under a great oak beside the fountain.
— Hello. SOLAIRE talks to him.
— Hello, sweetie! Gentleman in white says.
—Hey, who are you? LUNAIRE asks him.
— I’m French. Gentleman in white answers.
— Why are you here? SOLAIRE asks him.
— I’m writing. The man in white answers the question.
— You look like a sea captain who who has just retired.
SOLAIRE says.
— And then starts writing his memoirs. LUNAIRE continues.
— I love your expression, People call me a philosopher.
The man in white answers their question.
— We are following a marvelous eagle whose name
we don’t know, “An eagle of wonder”is his nickname.
LUNAIRE says.
— That bird, he’s MA GÉNIE. PHILOSOPHER answers.
— And then we got lost in a dark forest. I was very afraid.
SOLAIRE explains to him.
— You live here with me.
I’m going to take the place of your father, My pleasure.
PHILOSOPHERproposes to take care of them.
— No ! No, we can’t. We’ve been searching for our père.
SOLAIRE says.
— Our père came in a dream and told us he was King
of the non-existent kingdom on the map.
LUNAIRE says.
— We don’t know where that is.
SOLAIRE mutters to himself.
— King of the non-existent kingdom ?
I hear that name somewhere else.
You look like the king’s children.
You can invite me to your imaginary kingdom?
PHILOSOPHER, he’s in a good mood.
— Aiming for the great tree, we’ve managed to get here.
Yes, we’ve made it. YesYes. SOLAIRE explains briefly.
PHILOSOPHER, he’s a man who believes in neither God
nor the devil.
He believes in humans.
4 – 1 – 2 A huge meeting
— It’s done out of friendship.
PHILOSOPHER gives a kiss SOLAIRE on the cheek.
— It’s done when we’re falling in love…………
That’s how PHILOSOPHE hug LUNAIRE.
SOLAIRE and LUNAIRE, quite happy,
commerce to sing a song of their homeland,
they have been almost forgotten,
after leaving their circus.
« When we find you,
we can see our hopes and dreams
for the future, confidence in others.
That’s why we admire you.
Here, sunshine is everywhere!
After the rain comes a rainbow.»
— Beautiful ! I’ve already fallen in love with you.
Welcome to LUTETIA.*
Have a good time in the prairie. Don’t be afraid,
mon petit.
You can come and see me anytime you want,
My little bird.
I’m always here.
From here, on the Sainte-Geneviève hill,
we have a beautiful view.
I can ask one of my acquaintances, the best master,**
to write down to your father that you are here with me.
PHILOSOPHER says.
— That’s a promise. My name is SOLAIRE.
— My name is LUNAIRE and you?
Can I ask your name?
LUNAIRE asks him.
— My name is Jean-Paul Sartre.***
That’s my name.
PHILOSOPHER answers.
Tricolored flags by the windows,
they were swinging in the wind here and there.
It was Summer under the blue sky.
* Lutetia was a Gallo–Roman town
and the predecessor of modern-day Paris.
** Gabriel Marcel Discussions with HIDEO KOBAYASHI
in 1966 on civilization and nature.
*** Jean-Paul Sartre French philosopher
4 – 2 Medicinal herb
PHILOSOPHER told his little children.
— By the way,
I’m not feeling well these days due to illness.
I can’t see well for quite some time now,
I’m in trouble. I’m worn out, exhausted.
— A while ago,
I’ve seen some medicinal herbs around here.
LUNAIRE says.
— We’re going to pick out their young shoots, You will soon get well.
SOLAIRE suggests.
— See you later.
One hour later, they came back with some medicinal herbs
in their hands that spread a sweet perfum.
— This medicine will do you good. Here you are.
SOLAIRE says.
— How are you feeling? You feel better now?
LUNAIRE anxiously asks PHILOSOPHER.
— I feel better than I used to. It’s much better.
This medicine helped a lot.
PHILOSOPHER answers.
— You look great. It’s a kind of magic.
SOLAIRE is very happy.
PHILOSOPHER, he puts the rest of the medicine
in his breast pocket.
— When I was young………, he looks back on his past,
I’d always put all the money in my pocket.
My girlfriend*, she couldn’t stop laughing.
PHILOSOPHER smiles.
— Where you are, is home for you.
LUNAIRE says.
— Well, sure.
PHILOSOPHER answers.
— We saw the stone-bridge over there. What is it?
LUNAIRE asks.
— It’s called Pont-Neuf.
It’s the first bridge ever built of stone in LUTETIA,
once always made of wood.
PHILOSOPHER explains the history.
That’s a perfect answer to the question.
— That’s why Pont-Neuf, I see.
LUNAIRE says.
PHILOSOPHER is, so to speak, “a living dictionary”.
* Simone de Beauvoir ( 1908-1986 )
4 – 3 Tuck-Tuck
At midday on the following day,
they met a tiny Chien-Chien crossing a wheat field.
— How beautiful, this chien-chien with eyes blue as the sea.
LUNAIRE says.
— I’ve never seen a more beautiful creature than him.
SOLAIRE is totally captivated by his charm.
— Can I ask your name?
Where do you come from?
SOLAIRE asks him just out of curiosity.
— Tuck.
From the west with the west-wind and you?
Le Chien-Chien, he answers frankly.
— From the east with the east-wind.
SOLAIRE answers quick as a flash.
They quickly became friends with Chien-Chien
and had happy times.
— Tuck, he has a tender heart.
You fall in love at first sight?
LUNAIRE says.
— What a beautiful day we’ve had !
I chatted with him about a lot of things.
SOLAIRE says.
— LUTETIA, a pretty village,
one day had to be created by Love.*
*Paris, joli qu’un jour dut créer l’Amour.
Guillaume Apollinaire
« In the summer prairie in the afternoon,
slightly rises a column of smoke from a tipi.**
Here I am. ___________ Love you. Love you,
as high as the sky. »
**an American Indian tent
( PJ004 )
4 – 4 Mon petit oiseau
Time is flying. Days went by like a dream.
Time flies by and never comes back.
Beautiful days have gone by when they loved to sit on
the lap de PHILOSOPHER,
by the shining river that flows so slowly as time goes by.
— La Seine, that’s your name.
LUNAIRE says.
— The most beautiful river of all………….probably.
SOLAIRE also says.
— Definitely, I’m sure.
LUNAIRE says.
In the familiar garden, planted with Platanus,
LAPIN begins to insist that they leave again.
— This is never the destination.
You can stay here as long as you like.
But you should get back on the way, after your good rest.
— If I were young, I’d never let you go. PHILOSOPHER says.
I love you, mon petit oiseau. This is my last love.
— I’m Being and Nothingness sitting on your lap?
— Yes. PHILOSOPHER replies.
— The greatest happiness in this village, ……….LUTETIA,
is to see you without knowing who you are.
The most beautiful mistake of my life, ……….
is to be loved on your lap. With a philosopher?
— With me. PHILOSOPHER answers.
« Above and beyond words exchanged so passionately,
we can see eternity fly away.
With eyes looked at so gently, we catch unexpected happiness.
For the last time, once more, let us remember
that it’s only love we could hold on this earth. »
SOLAIRE and LUNAIRE start singing a song.
— Beautiful.
Would you be so kind as to sing for me once again?
PHILOSOPHER asks.
— As soon as we’ve found the Château, we’ll be right back here.
I promise you.
LUNAIRE says.
— Mon bijou, I feel like we don’t see each other anymore.
PHILOSOPHER says.
— I can’t leave you. Can’t decide.
— You decide. It’s up to you.
PHILOSOPHER says.
— No, that’s my destiny.
— You go on your way to Freedom.
PHILOSOPHER says.
— Don’t leave me.
— It’s you who’s leaving. That’s your choice.
PHILOSOPHER says.
— Yes, it’s me who’s leaving……..
— Don’t insist.
— At the end of the journey, what am I going to see?
LUNAIRE talks to himself.
4 – 5 A group of cows
SOLAIRA and LUNAIRE, they followed the advice of
PHILOSOPHER and finally decided to leave their Tuck-Tuck
in a herd of cows grazing on the prairie.
— Ma’am, we’d like to ask for your help.
LUNAIRE approaches one of the cows ruminating,
the biggest of them all.
— Could you please feed our dear Chien-Chien ?
He’s too small to accompany us on the long journey.
SOLAIRE explains.
— Sure. I’m always there willing to help you.
The biggest cow answers.
— Can I count on you?
— It’s okay, I’ll take him with pleasure! You have my word.
Mrs. Cow, she proudly shakes her great grand-grand breasts.
— You wait here with them for our return.
See you in a couple of weeks! I’ll be back.
SOLAIRE says.
— I’ll be here forever.
Tuck-Tuck answers.
Night is falling.
SOLAIRE, all alone under the starry skies,
he sings a song :« Oath Song »
whose beauty has touched all the animals on the prairie.
« If it stops raining tomorrow morning,
Seagulls will glide on the wind to the harbour.
Dropping their own memories,
drawing their long and gentle circles,
forgetting familiar words of their dream-homeland,
they’ll be on their way to the unknown Neverland. »
4 – 6 Separation
— You believe in eternity ?
LUNAIRE asks his final question to PHILOSOPHER.
— Yes, I believe in. PHILOSOPHER answers.
— Me too, I believe in with you.
LUNAIRE says.
— You remain silent?
LUNAIRE asks.
— I’m listening to you.
PHILOSOPHER says.
All of a sudden, the sound of bells reverberates
through May-sky to announce six o’clock.
— Time to go ! PHILOSOPHER says to himself,
looking up at the sky.
It was so hard to leave him,
LUNAIRE, he starts to make a cry of sadness
that can be heard across the prairie.
Everyone was surprised and stopped taking their meals.
Some mistook it for a flood and they quickly rushed
to take refuge on the hills.
A baby-bird has fallen from its nest.
— Cou ………… cou …………….. ! .……………. ! .…………….. !
Since then, the hills has been named
« The Hill of Separation ».
4 – 7 A sudden earthquake
« Neverland, we all dream of.
We look for a brilliant unknown land.
We’re here in the bright sunshine.»
A few days after their departure, one day,
suddenly they felt the ground shaking.
Looking behind, they saw their beloved great tree,
already old, make a sound and fall down to the ground.
— Uh, nope.
It’s no use, or rather it’s dangerous for you.
Go on your way.
LAPIN orders them.
SOLAIRE and LUNAIRE, they go on their way
with LAPIN, crying and glancing back at the prairie
where they’ve spent many happy days
on the lap of PHILOSOPHER.
Tenderness of heart remains forever in their memories.
It is what it is……..
« Separation is always a new start.
Tomorrow, we’ll run through the dark and still frozen forest
and we’ll go across the closed lake.
Our goal is to see once again the sunny prairie filled with sunshine.
Hey! Listen closely.
Jupiter is calling for us.»
« It continued to rain in torrents
and then stopped finally.
Don’t cry any more, My sweetheart.
Tomorrow morning,
we’ll see the dazzling splendid Mediterranean.»
Wasurejimo ( Spring frost ) A puzzle of labyrinth
