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what one may or may not get away with in a verse translation. No translator of Villon could get very far, of course, without the scholars, and, in particular, the scholarly edition, François Villon Œuvres edited by Auguste Longnon, and revised by Lucien-Foulet, Librairie Honoré Champion, 1969. Without the help of such scholars it would be foolhardy indeed to embark on the task of faithful translation. I am grateful to Stanley Burnshaw whose suggestions have led to many improvements. Finally I would like to thank Kit Yee Wong of Anvil Press for her care in proofreading the French text. PETER DALE 10
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Biographical Note on Villon FRANOIS VILLON was born François Montcorbier or François des Loges in Paris in 1431. He took his surname, Villon, from his guardian and benefactor, Guillaume de Villon, chaplain of Saint-Benoît-le-Bétourné, a man of whom he speaks well in both Le Lais (The Legacy) and Le Testament (The Testament). Villon took his baccalauréat from the University of Paris in 1449. Around 1451, he was probably involved in a student prank which removed a landmark, Le Pet au Deable (The Devil’s Fart), from the front of a mademoiselle de Bruyère’s establishment. He himself mentions a poem, Le Rommant du Pet au Deable (The Romance/Tale of the Devil’s Fart), in The Testament. However, in 1452, he received his licence and maître ès arts from the University of Paris. His first recorded clash with the law occurred in 1455 when he was involved in a fight with a priest who was killed. An eyewitness, admittedly a friend of Villon’s, maintained that he acted in self-defence. Though pardoned for the murder in 1456, that same year he was implicated in the infamous robbery of five hundred golden écus from the College of Navarre. He left Paris almost immediately after the burglary. Guy Tabary and Colin de Cayeux were two of his confederates, both mentioned in The Testament. In this year he also wrote The Legacy. Tabary made a detailed confession to the robbery in 1457, while Villon was out of Paris and probably unaware of it. Much of the rest of the detail of his life comes from The Testament, on the assumption that it is truly autobiographical. According to this, he was imprisoned, somewhat unjustly or pettily if his mood is anything to judge from, by the Bishop of Orleans in his palace dungeons at Meung (Mehun). He was set free in 1461 with many others in celebration of King Louis XI’s progress through the town. In this year he wrote The Testament in which he speaks of wanderings and various towns that must have been his itinerary between, say, 1457 and 1461. In 1462, he is again in 11

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what one may or may not get away with in a verse translation. No translator of Villon could get very far, of course, without the scholars, and, in particular, the scholarly edition, François Villon Œuvres edited by Auguste Longnon, and revised by Lucien-Foulet, Librairie Honoré Champion, 1969. Without the help of such scholars it would be foolhardy indeed to embark on the task of faithful translation. I am grateful to Stanley Burnshaw whose suggestions have led to many improvements. Finally I would like to thank Kit Yee Wong of Anvil Press for her care in proofreading the French text.

PETER DALE

10

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