(English translation appears beneath original French).
Le Sacrilège
Un ivrogne urina, sans le moindre respect,
Très longuement, devant l’église Saint-Sulpice.
Dévotes et dévots fuyaient à son aspect.
Survint le sacristain : « c’est ailleurs que l’on pisse, »
S’écria l’homme noir, blanc d’indignation,
« Vade retro, cochon ! »
Et sans émotion,
Silencieusement le poivrot le contemple,
Lui désigne du doigt la façade du temple,
Où ces trois mots étaient peints en noirs :
Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité.
Son geste, son maintien, son air, ses yeux humides
Rappelaient Bonaparte au pied des Pyramides.
Puis, il dit sur un ton rempli de dignité :
« Liberté ! donc je pisse ici, si bon me semble,
« Egalité ! tu peux bien pisser aussi, toi,
« Si ça te fait plaisir, mon vieux, pissons ensemble ;
« Fraternité ! si t’es un frère, tiens-la moi. »
Édouard Dubus, Vers Posthumes, 1895.
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Sacrilege
A drunkard urinated, without the least respect,
For a very long time, in front of the church of Saint-Sulpice.
Devotees of both sexes fled at the sight of him.
The Sexton happened by: "Urinate someplace else !",
Exclaimed the black-clad man, white with indignation,
"Go back over there, filthy swine! "
And without emotion,
Silently the drunkard contemplated him,
Tracing with his finger the facade of the temple,
Where these three words were painted in black:
Liberty Equality Fraternity.
His gesture, his bearing, his air, his humid eyes,
Recalled Bonaparte at the foot of the Pyramids.
Then, the drunkard said with a tone filled with dignity:
"Liberty! therefore I piss here, since it seems a nice place to do so,
"Equality! you can piss here, too, just as well as I can,
"If it pleases you, my old friend, let's piss together;
"Fraternity! if you are truly my brother, you'll treat me like one too. "
Édouard Dubus, Posthumous Poems, 1895.
(English Translation: Sardonique Schadenfreude Rictus / Dr. Bathybius, 2007)