I mentioned in today's earlier post that last week for homework, Josiah worked through the story of the little boy who cried wolf, a.k.a., le garçon qui criait "au loup." [Of course this really means that I worked through the story. Fortunately children's tales like that are lots easier for me to understand than everyday conversations or more technical documents, so it's been among the more enjoyable translation projects!]
Anyway...Jesse and I keep cracking up at it. I'm sure you know the general tale. Well, when the wolf arrives on the scene and the boy—Louis, in this version—cries out at the end, the adults eventually see his plight and tell him it serves him right ("That'll teach you not to tell lies!"). Hearing this, the wolf decides to eat the adults instead, and it looks as though Louis is off the hook. But no, the wolf ends up deciding to "savor" Louis for dessert. No American-style happy endings here! And what totally gets us every time? The final line: "Que voulez-vous, c'est la vie!" What do you want? That's life!
Our happy-ending kids found this to be a bit...puzzling, to say the least. "You mean, the wolf really ate him?" Yep. "The adults didn't want to save him?" Nope, although don't worry, they died too. Listen kids, we aren't going to sugar coat it for you. And seriously, what do you want? Wolves devour people, got it? The end.
It just struck us as so quintessentially French. You can bet Jesse and I have been getting all sorts of mileage out of that line between ourselves!
3 comments:
It's important that kids learn this stuff. I mean, just look at the statistics: http://www.theonion.com/articles/study-wolf-attacks-still-leading-cause-of-death-in,32170/
We actually read an 'American' version that ended with the boy being eaten. I was horrified and my boys loved it!
Tim, loved the article. :) And Marcia, I'd love to see your version! I'll need it at home next year since by then my hardened little European children won't want lily-livered bedtime stories any longer. :) For Josiah and William, their consternation (and my amusement!) was largely on how the adults were happily prepared to be spectators in Louis' mauling...in "serves you right" fashion!
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