My French tutor, the beautiful Madame M, told me about the French version of picking daisy petals. You know, the way little girls will pluck the petals of a daisy to find out whether a boy "loves me or loves me not."
The French version of this "effeuiller la Marguerite" plucking the daisy, goes like this:
Il m'aime un peu.
Il m'aime beaucoup.
Il m'aime passionnément.
Il m'aime a la folie
Il m'aime pas du tout.
I just adore this! Oh, please forgive my missing accent marks (I'm still figuring that out on my Mac). But, here's the English translation:
He loves me a little.
He loves me a lot.
He loves me passionately!
He loves me madly!
He doesn't love me at all...
Ah, the French take on love. Even little girls know that romantic love is complicated and has many levels. Love is not black or white. It's so much more interesting than the American "He loves me, he loves me not."
With the French, we have a little, a lot, passion, folly, and madness!
Don't you just love that. I think my daughter learned it in grade school and taught it to me. So sweet, so French -- and like the French, rather realistic and romantic at the same time.
ReplyDeleteYes, that's it exactly--romantic and realistic! Thanks for the comment, Tish!
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly enjoyed this post! Really great. True and very French!
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