One might ask how someone like Falco ends up tutoring someone like Mayann. All will be revealed in time, but at least superficially, the reason is financial (for him) and social (for her; she really wants to learn French since the American expat community in Paris bores her, but it is difficult to find a serious teacher when you’re a pretty girl… Perhaps this guy can pass the test?).
Some useful links:
Tartuffe (I have actually participated in a Molière play – it was in L’Avare, or The Miser, in high school)
History of Printemps, the department store (It was ravaged by a fire in 1921, a year later – should we suspect Volkov?)
Every part of Mochi is absolutely Evil.
Le Ciel défend, de vrai, certains contentements ;
Mais on trouve avec lui des accommodements.
What was your role?
La Flèche, the clever valet! (Great excuse to dress up in breeches.)
Que nous importe que vous en ayez, ou que vous n’en ayez pas, si c’est pour nous la même chose ?
… (Ah ! qu’un homme comme cela mériterait bien ce qu’il craint ! Et que j’aurais de joie à la voler !)
At least Falco isn’t too much into Chrysale’s philosophy, that is quite remarkable for a clergyman.
Il n’est pas bien honnête, et pour beaucoup de causes,
Qu’une femme étudie, et sache tant de choses.
Former aux bonnes mœurs l’esprit de ses enfants,
Faire aller son ménage, avoir l’oeil sur ses gens,
Et régler la dépense avec économie,
Doit être son étude et sa philosophie.
Nos pères sur ce point étaient gens bien sensés,
Qui disaient qu’une femme en sait toujours assez,
Quand la capacité de son esprit se hausse
À connaître un pourpoint d’avec un haut de chausse.
Ah well, as long as a woman knows she’s the one who’s wearing the breeches, what else is there to learn?
Naturally, Falco is the type who is sensitive to intellectual flattery and enjoys the authority position of a teacher (admittedly not unlike to his creator). Not necessarily the ability to corrupt an innocent mind, but the shared path towards enlightenment… Or, he just wants to be able to share the “little flowers” of Soeur Thérèse de Lisieux:
Vivre d’amour, c’est garder en soi-même
Un grand trésor en un vase mortel.
Mon Bien-Aimé ! ma faiblesse est extrême !
Ah ! je suis loin d’être un ange du ciel.
Mais, si je tombe à chaque heure qui passe,
Me relevant, m’embrassant tour à tour,
Tu viens à moi, tu me donnes ta grâce,
Je vis d’amour !
What a lovely blending of Shakespearean and Molièresque influences in the title of the comic-strip (so many Thespian innuendos)! Has Falco gotten more than he can chew (ahem, rhetoric question)?
By the way, I am a little curious about li´l cute Mochi-san´s “sound emissions”: what are the approximate translations to Mochi´s Japanese signs in Day 1 (first panel) and Day 2 (second panel)?
Hi B.T.! In the first panel, Mochi says, “wan wan wan” = bow wow wow. In the 2nd, she scratches herself, “gari gari”. In the 3rd, it’s an actual sentence, although a bit rude: “nani kore?” = what’s that?