Parlez-vous Francais?

My most dreaded day finally came and, thankfully, went--the day when I had to sit for the French language proficiency exam required for graduate students. What a relief! And no, i didn't perish; I lived to tell. And no, it didn't take five hours as rumored; I finished it in an hour and a half with my dignity in tact. Whew!

The night before, I couldn't sleep because I imagined stacks of Flaubert texts, or maybe Proust, or Hugo, or even Alexandre Dumas, being served up to me cold and raw for translation into English by some strict French grammar police.

And so with barely five hours of sleep, I trudged over to the testing center and what do you know, my examiner was a petite, pretty, and pleasant Filipina professor, who insisted on being called, simply, Nikki. I was allowed to bring in a dictionary--duh! So I was in the woods but not comepletely lost. The latest edition Collin's French-English dictionary served as my compass and lifeline.

I was surprised to be handed over a mere two-page exam sheet and was I was leaping and bounding into the air with joy and gratitude (but of course, I didn't--couldn't!). All those acrobatics were performed in my brain for issues of propriety and poise.

There were three texts that had to be translated: An excerpt for Albert Camus' L'Etranger, a poem called Le Bonheur by Paul Fort, and finally another poem, Dejeuner du Matin by Jacques Prevert. I fell in love with this last poem and I'm posting the text here with my translation. I still don't know whether I passed or not but I stepped out of that room awestruck by this poem.

"Déjeuner du matin"
by Jacques Prévert

Il a mis le café Dans la tasse

Il a mis le lait Dans la tasse de café

Il a mis le sucre Dans le café au lait

Avec la petite cuiller Il a tourné

Il a bu le café au laitEt il a reposé la tasse

Sans me parler

Il a allumé Une cigarette

Il a fait des ronds Avec la fumée

Il a mis les cendres Dans le cendrier

Sans me parler Sans me regarder

Il s'est levé

Il a mis Son chapeau sur sa tête

Il a mis son manteau de pluie

Parce qu'il pleuvait

Et il est parti

Sous la pluie

Sans une parole

Sans me regarder

Et moi j'ai pris

Ma tête dans ma main Et j'ai pleuré.

Translation:

"Having Breakfast"

He put the coffe in the cup

he put the milk in the cup with the coffee

he put the sugar in the coffee with milk

with a teaspoon he mixed it

he drank the coffee with milk and set down the cup

without talking to me.

He lit a cigarette

he blew smoke rings

he put the ashes on the ashtray

without talking to me

without looking at me

He stood up

he put his hat on his head

he put on his raincaot

because it was raining

and then he left

under the rain

without a word

without looking at me

And me, I took

my head in my hand and I cried.

Powerful but in a subtle way; emotion-packed but in a quiet way!