Lettre autographe signée et enveloppe adressée à la Comtesse Potocka. Maupassant sur l'Angleterre: « J'en ai eu plein les yeux ; mais j'en aurais plein le dos si je les avais entendus. »

Handwritten, signed letter in an envelope addressed to the Countess Potocka. Maupassant on England: “J'en ai eu plein les yeux ; mais j'en aurais plein le dos si je les avais entendus.” “I had an eyeful; but I would have been sick and tired if I had understood them.”

Aylesbury, England 10 August 1886, 10.1 x 15.3 cm, 4 pages on a double sheet

Amusing handwritten letter signed by Guy de Maupassant to the Countess Potocka, 76 lines in black ink on a double sheet with the Waddesdon, Aylesbury letterhead. Envelope attached.

Published in Marlo Johnston, “Lettres inédites de Maupassant à la comtesse Potocka”, Histoires littéraires, n°40, October-November-December 2009.

Maupaussant travelled a lot throughout his life: Algeria, Tunisia, Italy, England... At the time of this letter, he was in Aylesbury in England, a guest at Baron de Rothschild's Waddesdon manor. On 7 August he organised an exceptional party which brought together three hundred distinguished guests. Contradictory when one knows the force with which Maupassant denied being sociable. In describing his activities to the Countess, he paints an acid portrait of English society.

He apologises to the Countess for this prolonged absence: “Oui, Madame, je suis resté en Angleterre un peu plus que je n'avais pensé le faire. Je n'ai pu d'abord résister aux instances du baron de Rothschild qui prétendait me retenir un mois ; et puis cette vie nouvelle m'a parue curieuse à beaucoup d'égards, bien que triste.” “ Yes, Ma'am, I stayed in England for a little longer than I thought I would. At first, I could not resist the demands of the Baron de Rothschild who claimed to keep me for a month; and then this new life seemed curious to me in many respects, although sad.” The country was only moderately to his liking but he found a way to adapt to it: “C'est triste ici, mais reposant et je goûte un plaisir bizarre, un vrai plaisir solitaire à me trouver au milieu de gens qui ne m'entendent pas et que je ne comprends point.” “It is sad here, but relaxing and I taste a strange pleasure, a real solitary pleasure in finding myself in the midst of people who cannot hear me and whom I do not understand.” He took the opportunity to deduce a travel rule with which Des Esseintes would have agreed if he had actually set foot on English soil: “Si j'avais un conseil à donner aux jeunes hommes, ce serait celui-ci : “N'apprenez jamais les langues étrangères et voyagez souvent à l'étranger.” Il n'y a rien de plus agréable que de regarder les gens causer, rire, mimer ce qu'ils disent sans avoir la fatigue inutile de suivre, de comprendre ce qu'ils pensent, et celle, plus grande, de leur répondre. $” “If I had one piece of advice to give to young men, it would be this: “Never learn foreign languages and travel abroad often.” There is nothing more pleasant than to watch people chat, laugh, mime what they are saying without having the unnecessary fatigue of following, of understanding what they are thinking, and the greater fatigue of answering them.”
Maupassant talks of the English at their expense: “Je me sens en sûreté au milieu de ces êtres-là, tranquille comme s'ils étaient en cage, et quand ils essayent, par politesse (car ils sont très polis) de baragouiner quelques mots de français je leur fais répéter vingt fois chaque phrase, en feignant de ne point comprendre, pour leur ôter tout désir de recommencer.” “I feel safe in the midst of these beings, calm as if they were in a cage, and when they try, out of politeness (because they are very polite) to speak badly a few words of French I make them repeat each phrase twenty times, pretending not to understand, to rid them of any desire to start again.” Even the highest social classes are not spared of his dark humour: “J'ai passé deux jours avec l'archevêque de Canterbury à qui on m'a présenté comme un égyptologue pour ne point alarmer sa conscience sacerdotale.” “I spent two days with the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was introduced to me as an Egyptologist so as not to alarm his priestly conscience.” Neither royalty or the people are found to be graceful in Mauspassant's eyes: “Je viens de passer trois jours (suprême honneur) sous le même toit que l'héritier du trône (au 2nd degré) qui me fait l'effet d'un superbe échantillon d'un crétinisme auquel aboutissent les races royales. J'ai vu des lords, des généraux, des ambassadeurs, des ministres, toute la ménagerie humaine de ce pays.” “I have just spent three days (supreme honour) under the same roof as the heir to the throne (2nd in line) which makes me the effect of a superb sample of stupidity to which the royal breeds succeed. I saw Lords, Generals, ambassadors, ministers, all the human menagerie of this country.” Even women are not spared, and Maupassant uses their description as an opportunity to complement the Countess: “Point de jolies femmes. Elles sont assez fraîches mais sans grâce, sans élégance, sans piment. Sans vouloir vous faire un compliment vous êtes infiniment plus belle que les plus belles personnes montrées ici. Et pourtant j'aime assez les blondes - qui tiennent ce que promettent les brunes - à ce qu'on dit - et c'est vrai.” “No pretty women. They are quite fresh but without grace, without elegance, without life. Without wishing to compliment you, you are infinitely more beautiful than the most beautiful women shown here. And yet I quite like blondes - who hold what brunettes promise - by all accounts - and it is true.” It is interesting to note that the Countess was of Mediterranean origin (born Emmanuella Pignatelli di Cerchiara) and therefore had brown hair.

While he spent time with the best society, visited the town of Oxford and despite the charm of the English countryside, Maupassant definitely found no grace in this country. He leaves without regret, leaving only a terse telegram to one of his fellow travellers: “J'ai trop froid, cette ville est trop froide. Je la quitte pour Paris ; au revoir, mille remerciements.” “I am too cold; this town is too cold. I am leaving for Paris; goodbye, a thousand thanks.” To summarise the experience of his stay for the Countess, he concludes his missive with an irrevocable sentence for the English nation: “J'en ai eu plein les yeux ; mais j'en aurais plein le dos si je les avais entendus.” “I had an eyeful; but I would have been sick and tired if I had understood them.”

Provenance: Jean Bonna's collection.