Limericks Croises: Once a Mother Professor and Daughter

Limericks croisés : Once a Mother Professor and Daughter for Farid & Zafir Once (a) Mother Professor and Daughter Came to Paris to see a Poet Mister He took them on a lope From Opera* to Procope* Till their feet got thicker with blister He took them to see Doctor Goethe : Said Devil was shooting thorns from Under They went to Mephisto* To calm down their sore toe « Une belle épine du pied , Mister » « Vous m’enlevez »,* said learned Mother. « How can we repay you », said Daughter. « Not a care, I dare hope, I’ll take you to Procope. » The bill for trout, veg-dish and butter Came to more than what they could then pay. « Don’t give us this ol’ Napoléon lay ! You’re not wearing Bicorne*! » « Yes, but for Devil’s thorn ! » « Leave us your Mephisto shoes or pray ! » So Mind-Full Poet took them upstair(s) To prostrate long at Table Voltaire* Philosopher weighed plea Said : « This Poet like Me ! » Mephisto shoes freed from Procope lair ! Resources • Opéra : The National Academy of Music in Paris where ballets are still performed ; opera performances having been moved to the new concert hall in the Place de la Bastille. • Procope : One of the oldest cafés in Paris, founded in 1686 (and opened in 1689) by a Sicillian whose Frenchified name was « Procope », at 13, rue de la Comédie Française, Paris-75006. • Mephisto(pheles) : In Goethe’s play : Faust, one of the principal devils. Happens to be a brand name for shoes under the pretexte that it is better to have the Devil under-foot rather than in the boudoir. • « Vous m’enlevez une belle épine du pied » : French for, according to Collins (bi-lingue) Dictionary : « You have got me out of a spot. » Literally means : « You have extracted a painful thorn from (the sole of) my foot. » • Bicorne : two-cornered hat • Napoléon lay : Napoléon as a young officer is supposed to have left his « bicorne » hat as a pledge for the meals he ate there and could not settle with cash. The hat is displayed in a glass case at the entrance till this day, for the future emperor had far more interesting things to do – like conquering a continent – and could not take the time off to reclaim it. * Voltaire : The great French philosopher, author of the satirical novel : Candide, became a Freemason just four months before his demise. He was a frequent visitor to the Procope, and his table is still displayed on the first floor of the café-restaurant at the top of the ornate stairway. The décor of the place is preserved exactly as it was realised in 1835. © T. Wignesan – Paris, 2013