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Saturday, October 23, 2010

Aux Armes Citoyens!!

Riots are sweeping France. The reason? The government's's proposal to raise the minimum requirement age from 60 to 62.


Allons enfants de la Patrie,
Come, children of the Fatherland (Homeland),


Le jour de gloire est arrivé !
The day of glory has arrived!

Contre nous de la tyrannie,
Against us, of the tyranny

L'étendard sanglant est levé,
the bloody banner is raised, (repeat)

Entendez-vous dans les campagnes
Do you hear, in the countrysides,

Mugir ces féroces soldats ?
The wailing of those ferocious soldiers?

Ils viennent jusque dans vos bras
They're coming right into your arms

Égorger vos fils et vos compagnes !
To slash the throats of your sons and wives!



Aux armes, citoyens,
To arms, citizens,



Formez vos bataillons,
Form your battalions,

Marchons, marchons !
Let's march, let's march!

Qu'un sang impur
So that one impure blood

Abreuve nos sillons !
Quenches our lands!



Que veut cette horde d'esclaves,
What does this horde of slaves,

De traîtres, de rois conjurés ?
Of traitors and conjured kings want?

Pour qui ces ignobles entraves,
For whom are these ignoble shackles,

Ces fers dès longtemps préparés ?
These long-prepared fetters? (repeat)

Français, pour nous, ah ! quel outrage
Frenchmen, for us, ah! What outrage

Quels transports il doit exciter !
What fury it should arouse!

C'est nous qu'on ose méditer
It is we whom they dare plan

De rendre à l'antique esclavage !
To return to ancient slavery!



Aux armes, citoyens...
To arms, citizens...



Quoi ! des cohortes étrangères
What! Foreign cohorts

Feraient la loi dans nos foyers !
Would make the law in our homes!

Quoi ! ces phalanges mercenaires
What! These mercenary phalanxes

Terrasseraient nos fiers guerriers !
Would strike down our proud warriors!


Grand Dieu ! par des mains enchaînées
Great God ! By chained hands

Nos fronts sous le joug se ploieraient
Our foreheads would bow under the yoke

De vils despotes deviendraient
Vile despots would become

Les maîtres de nos destinées !
The masters of our destinies!



Aux armes, citoyens...
To arms, citizens...



Tremblez, tyrans et vous perfides
Tremble, tyrants and you traitors

L'opprobre de tous les partis,
The shame of all parties,

Tremblez ! vos projets parricides Tremble!
Your parricidal schemes

Vont enfin recevoir leurs prix !
 Will finally receive their reward! (repeat)

Tout est soldat pour vous combattre,
Everyone is a soldier to combat you

S'ils tombent, nos jeunes héros,
 If they fall, our young heroes,


La terre en produit de nouveaux,
The earth will produce anew,

Contre vous tout prêts à se battre !
Against you, all are ready to fight!



Aux armes, citoyens...
To arms, citizens...



Français, en guerriers magnanimes,
Frenchmen, as magnanimous warriors,

Portez ou retenez vos coups !
You bear or hold back your blows!

Épargnez ces tristes victimes,
You spare those sorry victims,

À regret s'armant contre nous.
Who arm against us with regret. 

Mais ces despotes sanguinaires,
But not these bloodthirsty despots,

Mais ces complices de Bouillé,
These accomplices of Bouillé,



Tous ces tigres qui, sans pitié,
All these tigers who, mercilessly,

Déchirent le sein de leur mère !
Rip their mother's breast!




Aux armes, citoyens...
To arms, citizens...



Amour sacré de la Patrie,
Sacred love of the Fatherland,

Conduis, soutiens nos bras vengeurs
Lead, support our avenging arms

Liberté, Liberté chérie,
Liberty, cherished Liberty,

Combats avec tes défenseurs !
 Fight with thy defenders!
Sous nos drapeaux que la victoire
Under our flags, shall victory

Accoure à tes mâles accents,
Hurry to thy manly accents,

Que tes ennemis expirants
Shall thy expiring enemies,

Voient ton triomphe et notre gloire !
See thy triumph and our glory!



Aux armes, citoyens... To arms, citizens...


Nous entrerons dans la carrière
We shall enter our military career

Quand nos aînés n'y seront plus,
When our elders are no longer there,

Nous y trouverons leur poussière
There we shall find their dust

Et la trace de leurs vertus
 And the trace of their virtues
Bien moins jaloux de leur survivre
Much less jealous to survive them

Que de partager leur cercueil,
 Than to share their coffins,

Nous aurons le sublime orgueil
We shall have the sublime pride

De les venger ou de les suivre
Of avenging or following them



Aux armes, citoyens...
To arms, citizens...

Meanwhile, there are fears the riots may spread to neighboring countries.
"Let's sing it again!"

"No, no. That's enough."



"Whadda'ya mean that's enough? We wanna sing it again!"

10 comments:

Findalis said...

I wonder if they ever will celebrate "The Glorious 19th of October" the way they do for the 14th of July.

Siarlys Jenkins said...

I wasn't aware that the Palestine Liberation Front, nor the Palestine Authority, had taken up demands for an early retirement age for French workers. (Yes, I do pay attention to which photos you throw in).

But, this is one of those issues on which both "liberals" and "conservatives," and more to the point, both the proletarians and the bourgeoisie, will have to come to terms with the principle of TANSTAAFL.

To the extent that there is a huge gap between net revenue and total wages paid, there is a legitimate case to be made that workers should either get more leisure time, or more money per hour. To the extent that the money really just isn't there, a country can only have so many people out of work supported on pensions at a time.

I'm planning on working until 70, if my health holds up as I think it should, because then I will get twice as much social security per month. This is a fair way to allocate limited resources, while leaving me some freedom of choice. All choice do have consequences.

Of course this would be easier to resolve if we all had individual businesses of our own, and nothing but self-employment income. You take as much leisure time as you can afford, and retire when you've personally saved enough, or contributed enough to a retirement fund, to live on it. Big comprehensive institutions give everyone a longing to get something for nothing: capitalists at the expense of employees, citizens at the expense of the state, taxpayers seeking comprehensive services on zero taxation.

Gary Fouse said...

Siarlys,

3 of the photos came from Gallia Watch attached to their reportage of the riots. One came from a recent news report of the recent riots.

I posted photos that were reported as being in the past few days in connection with the retirement age protets.

Siarlys Jenkins said...

Gary, I was referring to the one of the old lady named after Berlin, waving the Palestinian flag... you run that every week in connection with something.

Findalis, I'm going to tread softly, because we've almost become friends at times, and we're both crusty old midwesterners, but these demonstrations are never going to amount to anything like the storming of the Bastille... which incidentally is celebrated with a festival in Milwaukee every summer, usually on the wrong date.

Miggie said...

Gary,
Don't you hate it when you are accused of doing something you haven't done? Siarlys has said in his own snarky way that he has been watching you and has caught you putting in photos of other events into the story on this event. I don't know why you would hype something up that is bad enough on the surface. I think it is the attribution of bad motives that irks me.

He owes you a full apology, including the reason why he thought you were dishonest about the picures. Personally, I think he was just trying to show how clever he is without considering anything else.

.

Gary Fouse said...

Siarlys,

Well why didn't you say so? Greta berlin from the Bay Area. Her picture is there for the sake of humor, just like the monkey with the cymbal. Get it?

Lance Christian Johnson said...

Miggie, I swear to Thor, you are the most unintentionally ironic person I have ever met, either in-person or online. Key lines being:

Don't you hate it when you are accused of doing something you haven't done?

Personally, I think he was just trying to show how clever he is without considering anything else.

If he's doing that, then he's stealing from the Miggie Online Debate Handbook.

Siarlys Jenkins said...

Miggie, I didn't catch Gary doing anything. I noted a bit of humor in his choice of photos, and played on it a bit. Gary missed the point, so I clarified what I was referring to, which of course ruins a joke, but at least we aren't arguing any more. You appear to be hallucinating, since your remarks bear not the slightest resemblance to anything remotely resembling real life.

Gary Fouse said...

Mona Lisa didn't give a rip about the retirement age either.

Siarlys Jenkins said...

Gary, how do you know whether Mona Lisa gave a rip about the retirement age? Were you around there when the painting was done? Maybe that elusive smile meant "So far, I've got a nice IRA socked away, but if the stock market crashes I'm done for."