Chanson. Julia Pastrana quitte l'Angleterre

Dublin Core

Title

Chanson. Julia Pastrana quitte l'Angleterre

Subject

Julia Pastrana leaves England

Description

Pastrana is seated in a carriage driven by one man with two men standing in back of her. Rather than horses, three men pull the carriage and two additional men seem to be emerging from the smoke of a chimney. Pastrana wears a red dress and hat and is holding a flower.

Translation by Olga Balalaeva:

CAPTION [very small, lower left, of illustration]
(....) Moscow, August 18, 1858, Censor P. Kopnest

TITLE
Departure of the Maiden Julia Pastrana from England

[Presented in rhyming couplets typical of Russian Petrushka puppet theatre, under a lubok-style image.]

COLUMN ONE [rhyming couplets]
Thus Julia departs,
Leaving England.
She had stayed there
Accumulating a lot of money.
And she seduced many,
Charmed by herself.
Many chased after her,
Seduced by her beauty.
They asked for her hand,
But all were fooled.
But Love is not a toy,
As Petrushka* says. [*A character from Russian Puppet theatre]
See how she's admired,
The suitors learned of her departure,
Reached her in a moment, (And hastening to her side)
Put away their horses.
They harnessed themselves,
So themselves to carry her.
Julia sat in the cart,
And started a song.

COLUMN TWO
Rozherim* the fatso, [* Rodger, a person's name]
is an awfully kind man.
He harnessed himself to the shafts,
To entertain Julia.
He is very big,
His weight is 15 pood.* [*pood--a old Russian measure of weight, 1 pood is approx. 36 lbs.]
His belly is fat,
His height is great.
He can carry anyone,
And does it alright.
Gango Hudano* also started to fuss, [*imaginary character, named from the Russian word "hudoi" meaning thin; "gango" probably related to the English word "gangly"]
Got into the right-side harness.
Being horribly thin,
Such a trotter he is,
He runs 15 versts* an hour [*verst--a old Russian measure of distance, 1 verst is approx. 2/3 mile]
And doesn't get tired.
Yudaro-Puzano* also arrived, [*imaginary character, named from the Russian word "puzo" meaning "beerbelly"; "Yudaro" probably related to the Russian word for Jew, "yudei"]
And ran, harnessed on the left side.
Such a fatso,
And he himself is short.

THIRD COLUMN
His head is big,
All styled in curls.
The fourth suitor did better,
Occupied the coachman's place.
He harnessed all three others,
And started to shoo them with a whip.
The troika started to gallop,
Julia began to laugh.
Rozherim cleared his throat,
All of them sweated.
Hudano also tried,
He bolted at the touch of the whip.
Puzano moaned,
Catching up with them.
Two other suitors,
Stood behind on the footmen's place,
Fulfilling the lackey' role.
The suitor-dandies beholding this equipage
Began to horribly sob
Though they didn't love Julia
They had fixed their minds on her.

COLUMN FOUR
To get married to her,
To get their hands on her money.
They sold the last of their belongings,
And courted Julia.
They presented her different surprises,
They lost everything.
They did not get to Julia,
"out the pipe flew the smoke".* [*idiom: their money went up in smoke (out the chimney-pipe)]
See how they want to catch up to her,
To take back their gifts.
But Rozherim is riding in such a way
That takes everyone by surprise.
No one understands where his trot comes from.
As if he would leap free of his shafts.
Hudano and Pusano keep up the good fight,
Galloping like the wind.
It's a bit difficult to overtake Julia,
So the dandies will have to starve.

Source

Centre Pompidou-Musée National d'Art Moderne - Centre de Création Industrielle

Publisher

Date

1858-01-01

Contributor

Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI

Rights

Photo (C) Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais/Georges Meguerditchian

Relation

IsPartOf L'Agence Photo

Format

jpg

Language

Russian

Type

Lithograph

Identifier

Cote Cliché: 15-502840, No. d'Inventaire: AM81-65-1309, Note de l'Image: 4N70080

Still Image Item Type Metadata

Original Format

Lithograph

Physical Dimensions

.36 m x 454 m

Files

Russian Carriage Ride.JPG

Citation

“Chanson. Julia Pastrana quitte l'Angleterre,” Julia Pastrana Online, accessed March 28, 2024, https://juliapastranaonline.com/items/show/4.

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