La comédie classique en France, arranged as a reader with vocabulary

Edith Healy

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• Publié par: les_archives_du_savoir
• Nombre de lectures: 233
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 10 Mo

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LA COMEDIE CLASSIQUE
ERANCEEN
ARRANGED AS A READER
WITH VOCABULARY
BY
EDITH HEALY
3XKC
^lû*^'
YORK . : •CINCINNATI • : •CHICAGONEW
AMERICAN BOOK COMPANYCopyright, 1907, by
EDITH HEALY.
Hall, London.Entered at Stationers'
COMEDIE CLASSIQUE.
Iw. p.PREFACE
This reader is présentée! to the High Schools in the
hope that it will arouse a désire for serious work in the
boys and girls who are preparing for their collège
examinations,entrance and also that it will facilitate
the study of the French classics.
It is by no means intended, in this reader, to supply
will required at the collège examination.ail that be
The book is meant to be merely a help and stimulus
to the pupils in the work which lies before them. Per-
an example will serve to illustrate my meaning.haps
It was my good fortune to number among my friends
a man of letters who for ten years before his death was
confirmed invalid. He could not read for any lengtha
of time, and he was compelled to dictate ail his articles,
not being able to hold a pen. His patience was a
"wonder to me, and I once said, You must find that
time sometimes weighs heavily upon you." His look
of surprise abashed me, ail the more so when he an-
swered in a gentle voice : "I am never lonely, and
certainly never bored. My memory is a storehouse full
lifetimeof the results of a of study. I call into exist-
ence, at will, any amount of company heroes of ail
;
âges are my friends, and when the spirit moves me, I
aloud or myselfrecite either to whole scènes of plays
as familiar to me as to any actor, and thèse recitations
are a joy to me."
then saw, in flash, this man inI as a sitting a garden
making hieroglyphics in the sand with his walking stick.
I remembered his amused laughter as he quoted the
Unes of Molière's Médecin malgré lui. themHe spoke
with the same boyish delight which those scènes must
hâve aroused in him when a child.Préface4
I said, not to him but to myself, that our modem
way of teaching, in its neglect of the faculty of memory,
deprives the student of much future happiness. To
hâve read the classics suffices to-day, whereas some
of the classics of ail languages should, in early youth,
be committed to memory.
I know that preaching is prosy work and that the
seed thus sown falls usually on stérile soil
; still, if my
words can arouse in a few pupils the désire to memorize
some of the French classics, I shall consider that I
hâve secured a happy future for them. It requires
little eiïort, when young, to learn whole pages by heart,
and if this practice be continued through many years,
think what a resource this accumulation becomes ! I
therefore appeal to young students in the name of self-
interest littleto make a effort in the right direction,
and to furnish their memories with some of the sayings
of great authors. Even for examination papers, it is
well to be able to bring in an apt quotation ; it proves
that the study has been genuine and not superficial.
A word now to the teachers, to whom I recommend
taking thèse French classics to class and supplementing
the quotations inused this work by reading the entire
plays. Perhaps class hours are short for this work of
supererogation, but the complète works might be lent, as
a reward, to a student especially interested, and a word
of explanation from the teacher might greatly help and
encourage the pupil.
I may speak too warmly on the subject, but my
expérience has been that books are good friends, and
that to love them is a great privilège.
I am chiefly indebted in this compilation to Paul
Albert, to Petit de JuUeville, and to Gustave Lanson.
EDITH HEALY.