
BRUEYS kaj PALAPRAT
In a modest town on the outskirts of Paris, a down‑on‑his‑luck lawyer named Patelin wrestles with a simple, everyday dilemma: how to dress the part of a respectable professional when his purse is empty. His constant self‑deprecation and witty soliloquies set a light‑hearted tone, while the cramped streets and bustling local shop paint a vivid picture of early‑20th‑century provincial life.
Patelin’s household adds to the comedy. His impatient wife frets over their daughter Henriette’s fashionable attire, and the ever‑observant servant Colette becomes the unlikely confidante who knows every rumor. Across the lane, the wealthy draper Guillaume and his son Valère stir the pot with their generous—if occasionally mischievous—gestures toward the family. As Patelin plots to acquire a proper coat without money, the tangled web of ambitions, misunderstandings, and social expectations promises a charmingly chaotic act that keeps listeners smiling.
Language
eo
Duration
~54 minutes (52K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Andrew Sly, Marc Vanden Bempt and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2016-08-22
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1640–1723
A French playwright and theologian, he moved from Protestant scholarship into Catholic life and later wrote for the stage with wit and energy. His career joined religious controversy, comedy, and the literary world of late seventeenth-century France.
View all books1650–1721
A French lawyer turned playwright, he is remembered for lively stage comedies written for Paris audiences in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Much of his best-known work was created in partnership with David-Augustin de Brueys.
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