Home » France » Mathias Enard » Parle-leur de batailles, de rois et d’éléphants (Tell Them of Battles, Kings, and Elephants)
Mathias Enard: Parle-leur de batailles, de rois et d’éléphants (Tell Them of Battles, Kings, and Elephants)
The title comes from a quote by Rudyard Kipling: Tell them of what thou alone hast seen, then what thou hast heard, and since they be children tell them of battles and kings, horses, devils, elephants, and angels, but omit not to tell them of love and suchlike.
Pope Julius II was one of many popes who was more interested in his own earthly glory than in the greater glory of God. He had hired Michelangelo to build his tomb. Along with his many other faults was the fact that he was a skinflint and did not pay Michelangelo what he owed him.
Leonardo da Vinci had already been hired by SultanBayezid II to design a bridge over the Bosphorus. At that time relationships between Constantinople and the Italian states were fairly good. So when Michelangelo heard that Leonardo had been fired, and that they were now offering a job to him, he seriously considered it for several reasons. Firstly, there was considerable rivalry between Michelangelo. Leonardo and Raphael so he would be happy to put one over on one of his rivals. Secondly, the Sultan. was offering a lot of money, something that of course he welcomed and thirdly it would get him away from the Pope. However, his one concern is that the Pope would not take kindly to this and might seek some sort of revenge. In the end.Michelangelo did not take the job. However, this novel imagines what would have happened had he done so.
He sneaks away from Florence, ever mindful of the fact that the Pope is powerful and could easily seek revenge. The only people that know where he has gone are his brothers.
We first meet him as he arrives in Constantinople, highly critical of the Pope but also afraid of him.
He notices two things on his arrival. Firstly. he sees and is of course impressed by. Hagia Sophia,, the Byzantine Church converted into a mosque. He will later get a tour round it and will be more impressed. He is also impressed with the many sumptuous and expensive goods being loaded and unloaded in Constantinople port.
To make him feel more comfortable, he is lodged with an Italian. It seems there are quite a few Italians in Istanbul. He has his own interpreter., Manuel who offers to show him around but he declines, staying close to his lodgings. He has a problem. Michelangelo does not draw bridges. He draws horses, men and astragals.
After a three day, wait, he’s taken to see the gGand Vizier, Ali Pasha. He is introduced to his sumptuous studio, where there are not only lots of instruments but lots of engineers and designers to assist him. He is hown Leonardo’s models and proceeds to throw them on the floor and stamp on them.
He is also given a large sum of money for his expenses. This is handed to him byMesihi of Prishtina, an Albanian poet who will become his companion. They see the city but not much progress is made in his work. For example, he seems to have spent all night and the next day doing drawings but it turns out these have nothing to do with bridges but were of an elephant, a creature he had never seen before. While, obviously he cannot have an elephant as a pet, Mesihi buys him a pet monkey and a man and monkey get on very well.
When there is an execution taking place, he wishes to see it, having no fear of blood and, of course being an expert in anatomy. The author speculates this might have influenced him in his later work of ,Judith majestically carrying the head of Holofernes in his Sistine chapel paintings.
He receive bad news from Italy, namely that the Pope has found out that he has gone to Constantinople. He feels that even in Constantinople the Pope can get to him.
However, there is still no progress on the bridge.
He and Mesihi become closer and go out together. He even joins.Mesihi in the tavern, even though he is not a drinker. He is not a lover but is attracted to a dancer he sees with.Mesihi though he is not sure, initially, whether the dancer is male or female. He will eventually sleep. with her and he learns that she is Andalusian. Like many.Andalusians of Arab origin. She had to leave because of the brutality of the Spanish Catholics. She tells the story of an Arab prince and his deputy who were very close, a very close. Eventually, a woman came between them and things did not turn out too well. This story will be mirrored with.Mesihi , Michaelangelo and the dancer.
Progress is made on the bridge, to the satisfaction of the authorities but there is a delay payment, but for various reasons, Michaelangelo feel he has to go back home which he does. We had been given various examples of things he had seen in Constantinople which he applies to his later work.
According to the author’s afterword there is some evidence in the form of a document found in the Constantinople archives that Michelangelo did to a design for the bridge.
While, this could just have been a story about an Italian sculptor and and architect who visits Constantinople to design a bridge then goes home Enard gives us a lot more with the relationship withMesihi and, to a lesser degree with Manuel is interpreter and with the dancer. We also get his views on both the city of Constantinople and a culture of the people as well as the interesting backstory about what happened inAndalusia. And while there are no battles there is certainly an elephant and of course, if not actual kings, rulers who behave as kings As lways with.Enard this is a fascinating story.
h3>Publishing history
First published by Actes Sud, in 2010
First English translation byFitzcarraldo in 2018
Translated by Charlotte Mandell