Trewey is a mimic _par excellence_. He is past master in the art of
pantomime and facial expression. One of his particular acts, which
has given rise to numerous imitations, is entitled, “Tabarin, or
Twenty-five Heads Under One Chapeau.” Thanks to a piece of black felt
cloth, circular in shape, with a hole cut in the center, Trewey is
able to manufacture in a few minutes all the varieties of headgear
required for the Tabarin. For example: Napoleon—A couple of twists
of the cloth, and lo! you have a representation of _le chapeau de
Marengo_, the little cocked hat which Napoleon made famous, and about
which so many legends cluster. With this hastily improvised hat on
his head, Trewey assumes the Napoleonic attitude—one hand thrust into
his vest, the other behind his back. His physiognomy is that of the
great Emperor, as depicted by the painters of the Imperial régime.
The likeness is perfect. And so with fat French priests, soldiers,
bonnes, landladies, artists, diplomats, etc. It is a portrait gallery
of French types; Gavarni lives for us again. And just here, let me
digress a moment to explain the origin of the curious word _Tabarin_,
which, as all lovers of French comedy know, has passed into the
repertory of the national theatre. In the seventeenth century, that
bridge of memories, the old Pont Neuf of Paris, was the rendezvous
of quacksalvers and mountebanks. Booths for the sale of various
articles lined the sides of the bridge. People flocked there to
see the sights, to laugh, chat, make love and enjoy life as only
Parisians can. Students and grisettes of the _Quartier Latin_ elbowed
ladies and gentlemen of the court. Bourgeois families came to study
the flippant manners of their superiors. Poodle clippers plied their
trade; jugglers amused the _quid nuncs_ with feats of dexterity;
traveling dentists pulled teeth and sold balsams; clowns tumbled, and
last, but not least, pickpockets lifted purses and silk handkerchiefs
with impunity. Says Augustus J. C. Hare (_Walks in Paris_): “So
central an artery is the Pont Neuf, that it used to be a saying
with the Parisian police, that if, after watching three days, they
did not see a man cross the bridge, he must have left Paris.” Any
popular witticism in verse was long known as _un Pont-Neuf_. One of
the principal {342} vendors of quack nostrums of the Pont Neuf was
Montdor. He was aided by a buffoon named Tabarin, who made facetious
replies to questions asked by his master, accompanied with laughable
grimaces and grotesque gestures. The modern ringmaster and clown
of the circus have similar scenes together, minus the selling of
medicines. Tabarin was celebrated for his wit. Some of his _bon mots_
have descended to our time. He performed the feat of making some ten
different hats out of the brim of a felt hat, giving appropriate
facial portraits beneath each, and using wigs and beards to enhance
the effect. Such, in brief, is the story of the famous Merry Andrew
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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