المسافر بلا متاع

by Jean Anouilh, جان أنوي, أنور لوقا (Translator)

These original plays and novels accompanied by French-English vocabularies and a variety of pedagogical apparatus, are appropriate as intermediate or advanced readers.

Genres: Plays, France, Theatre, French Literature, Drama, Fiction, Classics

Paperback

First published January 1, 1937

About the author

Jean Anouilh was a French dramatist and screenwriter whose career spanned five decades, producing works that ranged from high drama to absurdist farce, though he is best remembered for his 1944 production of Sophocles’ Antigone, which, despite passing censorship, was widely interpreted as a critique of the Vichy regime. Born to a tailor father and a violinist mother, Anouilh absorbed the theatre from an early age, attending rehearsals and reading scripts, and began writing plays at twelve. The family moved to Paris, where he attended the Lycée Chaptal and briefly studied law at the Sorbonne before leaving to work in advertising. Early in his career he wrote comic scenes for cinema and worked as secretary to director Louis Jouvet, whose mentorship and the influence of playwright Jean Giraudoux inspired Anouilh to pursue theatre seriously. He debuted with collaborative and solo plays such as Humulus le muet, L’Hermine, and Mandarine, which, though not commercially successful, led to greater recognition with Le voyageur sans bagage in 1937. Anouilh developed distinct categories for his plays, including pièces noires, or tragedies like Antigone, exploring moral integrity against compromise; pièces roses, comedic works emphasizing fantasy and freedom; pièces brillantes, witty plays set in aristocratic environments; pièces grinçantes, darker, ironic comedies; and pièces costumées, historical dramas such as The Lark and Becket, highlighting protagonists pursuing moral paths amidst corruption. His later works, often called pièces secrètes, focused on dramatists and theatre professionals, emphasizing family and intimate relationships over conventional theatrical action. Politically, Anouilh remained largely apolitical, serving in the French Army and living under German occupation, his plays often interpreted as ambivalent reflections on resistance and pragmatism. Critically, he was recognized for blending lyrical language, precise dialogue, and structured plots, producing a prolific output for over fifty years, and winning accolades including the Prix mondial Cino Del Duca, consideration for the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature, and the inaugural Grand Prix du Théâtre de l'Académie française. His works continued to be performed internationally, balancing existential concerns, moral dilemmas, and humor, reflecting a nuanced perspective on human nature. By the end of his career, he had influenced French theatre deeply, navigating between realism, comedy, and tragedy, and remained a vital figure in twentieth-century drama until his death, leaving a legacy of plays that explore the tension between idealism and compromise, the demands of conscience, and the pursuit of integrity in a flawed world.

Reviews

[Whitaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scene: Man wakes up in a hospital bed. His head is swathed in bandages. He’s fairly old. The nurse sitting in the corner looks up.

Nurse: Oh, you’re finally awake. How are you feeling?

Man: Like I was hit by Airbus. Where the hell am I?

He pauses.

Man: Actually, who the hell am I?

Nurse: Well, sir, you received quite a knock on the head. It’s quite natural that you’ll be feeling some pain. We can put a drip on you or give you pain killers, which ever you prefer. As for who you are, we’d like to know as well.

Man: Oh man. This is sooooo weird. What do you know about me? How did I get here?

Nurse: Well, you were found in a marsh. You had been hit on the head by a duck. That was what caused your concussion, and I guess your amnesia.

Man: Gee, do you know why I was hit by duck? I love little animals. They’re so cute. Maybe I was trying to save it from some evil hunters. Maybe I’m an environmental activist.

Nurse: We’re not so sure about that, sir. You had a gun next to you.

Man: (Shudders) Ugh, surely that can’t be right. I hate guns. Awful things. They should ban them or something. I’m sure it can’t have been my gun. Did it have any marks on it or something? Can I have a look at it? Maybe it might trigger a memory.

Nurse: (Goes to cupboard and pulls out a Kalashnikov) Here you are, sir.

Man: Good heavens. I’m sure no one goes hunting with one of these things.

He stares at it with evident distaste. Then he gingerly reaches out to touch it. He shudders again.

Man: Horrible. I can’t for the life of me imagine what it was doing next to me. I must have been fighting to take it away from someone. Was there anything else?

Nurse: Well, all we had was a badge with an animal on it. An elephant.

Man: I knew it! I must some kind of animal activist. I’m probably with PETA or WWF or something. Why don’t you call them and see.

Nurse: Let me check with the doctor on that.

Man: Could you turn on the radio while you go? I’d like to listen to something while I wait.

Nurse: Sure thing.

She turns on the radio. Rush Limbaugh comes on. He’s railing against homosexuals and Mexicans.

Man: Owww! That’s just making my headache worse. Can’t you find something nicer? Like NPR maybe. You know they really should get that organisation more funding.

The nurse turns the radio knob. As she turns the knob, we hear briefly the news from the radio.

Radio: In other news, Vice President Dick Cheney has been missing for two days now. Search teams are out sweeping the area where he was last seen….

Man: Oh that sounds interesting. Do you know more?

Nurse: I’m afraid not sir. We don’t get much news out here. Our TV broke down years ago, and we don’t get newspapers. That radio is all we get. We’re funded by the government and we’re not very well funded.

Man: That’s a real pity. It’s something that shouldn’t be the case. Poor people need proper medical care too. Someone should look into it.

Nurse: Well, sometimes my cousin gets out to the city and when he comes back he’ll get some news for us. When I see him tonight, maybe I’ll ask him he if had anything.

Scene II: The next morning. The man is asleep in his bed. The nurse comes running in.

Nurse: OMG! OMG! It’s you! It’s you!

She is waving a newspaper.

Man: (half asleep) What do you mean by making all that noise? I was dreaming a right wonderful dream where I was puffing some excellent weed.

Nurse: It’s you!

She waves the paper at him.

Nurse: You’re Dick Cheney! Here! Look! You look exactly like his picture.

Man: NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!


How do you think this should end?

(1) The man decides that it can’t be him, falls in love with the nurse, and ends his days helping out as a volunteer in the hospital.

(2) The man is appalled at his past. He never recovers his memory, but decides to resume his role and try to work to change the things he did.

(3) The man never recovers his memory, but once back with his family and friends, he can’t help but resume his former role even though he now despises everything about it.

Oh, the other play? It’s a piece of fluff really, romantic comedy of mistaken identity. Pleasant and amusing enough but not terribly interesting.

[Nahed.E · Rating 5 out of 5]

تُري لو منحك القدر فرصة ثانية لتغير ماضيك كاملاً، وتلغيه كله من ذاكرتك، وعقلك، وعقل من حولك، وتختار ماضياً آخر مختلفاً تماما، وأسرة مختلفة تماما عن أسرتك الأصلية، هل كنت لتفعل ؟

ماذا سيحدث لو أنك قد فقدت الذاكرة، وظللت في وحدتك سنين، ثم حان الوقت لتعرف ماضيك من عائلتك، وفوجئت بكم الفظائع التي ارتكبتها في الماضي، تُري ماذا كنت لتشعر حينها ؟

مسرحية مسافر بلا متاع



للأديب الفرنسي الشهير جان آنويه



كنت قد قرأت عن هذه المسرحية في كتاب (خاتم في إصبع القلب) للرائع عبد الوهاب مطاوع رحمه الله
وتوقفت كثيراً عند فكرتها، وتذكرت إني قد شاهدت عنوانها في مسرحيات البرنامج الثقافي المسرح العالمي، وبدأت فعلا في الاستماع إليها، ثم وجدتني أحيا في عالم آخر دون أية مبالغة .. سواء الفكرة نفسها، أو تمثيل البطل، وصوته، وهو بالمناسبة الفنان المسرحي الشهير الذي لا يعلمه بعضنا إلا من الفيلم العربي الكوميدي القديم حرام عليك، حين قام بدور الطبيب الذي اُصيب بلعنه تحويله لذئب بشري
الفنان نبيل الألفي .. أحد أهم أعمدة المسرح العربي



نعود للمسرحية وفكرتها ونهايتها التي جعلتني اقيمها بخمس نجمات
بطلنا فقد الذاكرة في الحرب وعمره 18 سنة، وظل في هذه الحالة 15 سنة تقريباً
بطلنا .. الهادئ، الجميل، الوسيم، الراقي، الرقيق في فكره ومشاعره وإسلوبه مع الجميع، إلا أنه حين عاد لعائلته، وعرف ماضيه ، تفاجئ بأنه كان هذا الشاب الذي ارتكب من الحرمات والفظائع ما لا يتخيله أحد، وهو الذي قد رسم في خياله وتصوره عن حياته الماضية أنها جميلة هادئة أخلاقية، تمتلئ بالأصدقاء والعطف والرحمة والحب من الجميع
ولكنه فوجئ بحقيقة مرة، بأنه كان هذا الشاب المكروه الذي تمني الآخرين لو أنه لم يرجع قط
):
ولكنه عاد .. نعم بإسلوب مختلف وأخلاقيات جميلة هادئة .. لدرجة البكاء والصراخ والغضب من مجرد تصور فكرة أن يكون هو هذا الشخص المُغتصب القاتل مرتكب الحرمات

" ثم لا تناديني جاك بعد الآن
لقد فعل جاك هذا أكثر مما ينبغي بكثير
.. جاك الذي تُحيط به جثث الحيوانات
جاك هذا الذي غش وخدع .. وضرب .. وذهب إلي الحرب وحده
جاك هذا الذي لم يعرف حتي الحب
إنه يُخيفني .. أنا أرفضه "

ولكن .. كيف سيتخلص من ماضيه، ومن نتائج أفعاله الشنيعة ؟ وممن يحاولون أن يُرجعوا به إلي الحياة نفسها ؟

حقا .. ماضينا هو المتاع الذي نجره وراءنا مهما ارتحلنا من مكان لمكان، والناس يأخذونك بماضيك كاملاً
أو كما ورد في المسرحية

إن الماضي لا يُباع بالتقسيط

ما الذي سيحدث .. ؟
لو كنت مكانه .. وهناك فكرة مجنونة تُريحك من ماضيك الحقيقي الذي ترفضه بكل كياتك، ولا تتصور أن ينطبق عليك وقت ما، هل كنت لتنفذ هذه الفكرة؟
هل كنت لتأخذ القرار بأن تمحو ماضيك كله بجرة قلم ؟
أم تستمر، وتقبل .. وربما استطعت تصحيح أخطاء الماضي
!
لن أحرق المسرحية .. ولا ينبغي لي أن أخبركم بما حدث
لأنني لا انتوي أبدا أن اُنقص من جمال الاستماع لهذه الرائعة

جان آنويه .. كان اللقاء الثاني لي معك بعد مسرحية ذكري
آنويه .. أنت رائع

[Manny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love books in which the basic theme is that the hero discovers who he is, and that he's not, in fact, a very nice person. It's surprising how many different ways there are to present the idea. In A Wizard of Earthsea, Ged discovers that the deadly Shadow is himself. In Lolita, Humbert finds, despite all his attempts to tell the story differently, that he's a rapist and a child-molester. And in L'Âge de Raison, Mathieu, who'd prefer to think of himself as a nice guy who just wants to keep his freedom, learns that he's actually the kind of person who'll steal money from a friend in order to pay for his mistress's abortion. Writing this down, I do wonder for a moment if it's possible that I'm not as good a person as I imagine? No, no, none of this has anything to do with me. I don't know where that thought came from. Let's continue.

In Le Voyageur sans Bagage, we see yet another presentation of the theme. The action is set in the early 20s. The hero is a French guy, who's fought in World War I, been wounded, and lost his memory. (I don't know why this happened so often in WW I. For example, look at the father in A Little Princess. Do gas attacks cause amnesia or something?) The kind people who look after him have made valiant attempts to locate his real family. Now they finally think they have a good lead. He turns up to meet the new candidates. Everyone's feeling very optimistic.

He has all these fantasies about what a happy life he's had, and he's so sure they'll help him remember it. He must have had some great friend, who's been missing him all these years? A loving mother and father? A brother who'll welcome him back with a firm, manly handshake? Unfortunately, as he talks to the people who are, perhaps, his family, he finds out that it's not quite the way he'd pictured it. This person, if indeed it was him, was a complete bastard. He and his friend had both been carrying on with the same servant girl, and got into a fight which ended with him pushing the friend down the stairs, crippling him for life. He's had appalling quarrels with his parents over money. And, while his brother was serving in the trenches, he was screwing his wife.

Needless to say, he discovers that he really is this monster. But... there's a twist. Against all expectation, the play turns out to be a comedy, and there's an upbeat ending. Read it and find out how that's possible!

[Radwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

هل يمكن أن يمحي الإنسان ماضيه؟
هل يمكن أن يترك ذكرياته ويرحل كأن حياته الماضية شيئا لم يكن؟

[Hend · Rating 4 out of 5]

Traveller Without Luggage,a play about aFrench World War I soldier who suffered amnesia after war,many families claim him as being their son.he escapes his previous identity as a cruel and dishonest man, who tortured animals, , injured his best friend in a fight causing him a physical disability, and making a relation with his brother’s wife. ...
he tries to denies that he was this monster....

[Manuel Alfonseca · Rating 2 out of 5]

FRANÇAIS: C'est la deuxième fois que je vois ce pièce, dans l'archive de Studio-1. Il s'agit d'un homme qui a perdu la mémoire à la fin de la première guerre mondiale. Dix-huit ans plus tard, alors que l'armée française a accumulé une dette importante auprès de lui, plusieurs familles contestent son identité. Mais il n'aime pas du tout sa famille la plus probable, et il aime encore moins l'image de lui-même en jeune homme qu'on lui présente.

ENGLISH: This is the second time I've watched this play in the archive of Estudio-1. It deals with a man who lost his memory at the end of the First World War. Eighteen years later, as the French army has accumulated a large debt with him, several families dispute his identity. But he does not like the most likely family, and he likes even less the image of himself as a young man that they offer him.

ESPAÑOL: Esta es la segunda vez que veo esta obra, en el archivo de Estudio-1. Trata sobre un hombre que perdió la memoria al final de la primera guerra mundial. Dieciocho años más tarde, como el ejército francés ha acumulado una gran deuda con él, varias familias se disputan su identidad. Pero no le gusta nada la familia más probable, y todavía le gusta menos la imagen de él mismo cuando era joven que ellos le presentan.

[Jamey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only book I ever managed to read in French. All I remember is somebody throwing the protagonist down a flight of stairs and yelling, "Petit salaut!" (= little bastard).

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jean Anouilh never lets me down. I was in the mood to practice my French and remembered that I had this play sitting around, so I started to read it. It took me a little over a week to get into it, but I ended up reading the bulk of it today because it became so interesting, as Anouilh's plays do.

"Il faudra que tu appartiennes a quelqu'un..."
"Je ne suis pas Jacques Renaud!"

The story: "Gaston" is a thirty-six-year-old man who fought in WWI and lost his memory. For the past 18 years, he's been staying in an asylum, being treated for a mental disorder, essentially. There are families (I think at one point Gaston says 500) who claim that Gaston is their missing son, brother, nephew who was never recovered from the war. Of course, he can't be everyone's missing relative. They've narrowed it down to five families. The psychologist's aunt has taken a special interest in Gaston's case, so when her nephew can't accompany Gaston to meet the families and see if his memories come back, Madame la Duchesse accompanies him, along with the lawyer, Huspar, who's really just along for the ride, it seems. But, of course, Madame la Duchesse can't have her Gaston go to just anybody after all the work her nephew, Albert, put into the case, so she switches the planned order of visits to make sure the wealthiest family with the best name (les Renaud) gets to meet Gaston first.

There's a lot of interesting commentary here. There are conversations about war, about memory, about family, about free will, about the move from childhood to adulthood, but mostly about identity. Gaston doesn't remember who he was, but he knows who he is. Les Renaud insist that Gaston is their missing relative, Jacques, and keep calling Gaston "Jacques." Gaston says a million times, "Je ne suis pas Jacques!" I am not Jacques! They don't listen. And then, Jacques's sister-in-law Valentine tells Gaston that he has to belong to someone or go back to the asylum. He can't live his life without a family. She tells him that acting like you have all the freedom in the world is only the life of an amnesiac, but an adult actually has to make decisions and choices and has limitations, limitations that come from having a past and a family and other complications. She reminds him that, even though being in an asylum may seem free and easy, it's really not because he's being surveilled all the time and can't do what he really wants to do (funny that the two choices offered to Gaston are family or an asylum...and he can't tell which is preferable). But the point is, Gaston still gets to choose either way. He gets to choose when, if at all, he remembers or "remembers" and with whom. He gets to choose whether he goes home with a family or returns to the asylum. He gets to pick his own path and choose his own identity. But the question remains: if Gaston chooses not to be Jacques Renaud, whether he really is or not, does that make him less Jacques? If he never remembers his past, does that mean he gets to start over and be who he is now? To Gaston, the past is a burden, but to everybody else, it's a fact of life.

Anitgone and Beckett are much more complex and much more openly philosophical plays. Still, this play, The Traveler without Baggage (great play on words there, even if "baggage" didn't have the double meaning it does now, in English, anyway), contains much more than it seems to. There are great conversations between all the characters at different points about these deeper questions. The play is also funny, though, like L'Invitation au Chateau, especially because of Madame la Duchesse, who is a character in every sense of the word, but also because of Gaston's asides and witticisms. The play has a great story, the tension builds appropriately, and there are some moving scenes. I wish the ending was different because I wanted Anouilh's message to be different, but I like the way the play ends, as fanciful as it may be, because it's nostalgic and metaphorical and adds more layers to the questions about identity. Actually, thinking more about the ending, it's not really fanciful. There is a component of it that is, but there's more to the message than I thought originally when I think about what Gaston has and doesn't have in the end.

I want to say more. I want to share quotes that I really liked and talk about the deeper questions in the play (like about war, about psychology because Albert's methods are questionable, let's just say..., about the bigger picture of the play with all these families missing their loved ones, never having closure, still waiting and hoping, family, especially, the complications of losing a loved one and sibling relationships, the humor, the money--because Gaston gets a pension, which has definitely attracted people to his case, the classism because Madame la Duchesse looks down on people who aren't wealthy and makes fun of them, and so much more--Anouilh really packed a lot into this story!!) but this review is long enough. I highly recommend this play--it's thought-provoking and entertaining, and it may make a Jean Anouilh fan of you if you aren't one already, just like the first Anouilh play I read made a fan of me!

[Sarah saied · Rating 4 out of 5]

مسرحيه المسافر بلا متاع للكاتب الفرنسي جان آنوي
تحكى المسرحيه عن شاب ينتمى الى احدى الاسر الثريه يتطوع في الجيش الفرنسي خلال الحرب العالميه لينتهى به الامر الى فقدان الذاكره نتيجه لاصابته في الحرب والعيش وحيدا في ملجأ تحت اسم مستعار _جاستون_عقب محاولات فاشله للتعرف على اسرته الحقيقيه بلا فائده .
تبدأ المأساه الحقيقيه عقب نجاح الدوقه في التوصل الى عائله الشاب الثريه بعد 18 سنه من اختفاؤه وفقدانه للذاكره....ليواجه الشاب عائلته والشخص الذى كان عليه في الماضى ...وليصطدم بكل ذكرياته وماضيه بما يمتلئ به من احداث مشينه ...يتجلى صراع جاستون الداخلى في قوله (لا تسمينى بعد الان جاك.لقد فعل أشياء كثيره جاك هذا..جاستون أحسن منه بكثير...أنه وان لم يكن شخص موجود فأنا اعرف على الاقل من هو ...ولكن جاك هذا الذى أحاطت باسمه جثث كل تلك الطيور ..جاك هذا الذى احتال وآلم ورحل وحده الى الحرب دون أن يرافقه الى القطار مودع ..جاك هذا الذى لم يستطع حتى أن يحب أحدا ..انه يخيفنى)
الفكره الرئيسيه التى تقوم عليها المسرحيه هى الغفران ....أن تمنحنا الاقدار الفرصه حتى نستطيع الخلاص من جميع أفعال وذكريات الماضى بما فيها من خزى وشناعه وان نتطهر من كل تلك الذنوب والاثام لنعود من جديد اشخاص نواجه الحياه بلا خطيئه ولا اثام ...كما يقول جاستون (اننى بلا شك الانسان الوحيد حقا الذى وهبه القدر الفرصه السانحه لتحقيق ذلك الحلم الذى يراود كل انسان ..اننى رجل لكن في استطاعتى أن أكون اذا شئت جديد جدة الطفل ..وهذا امتياز أرى من الاجرام ألا انتفع به ..اننى ارفضكم _ليس لدى منذ أمس الذى لم أكد اقضيه بينكم_الا فيض من أشياء ينبغى ان أنساها ) لينتهى به الامر الى نكران انتماءه لعائلته الحقيقيه واختياره للرحيل مع غلام صغير _جاء للبحث عن عمه الذى فقده في الحرب أيضا_ ...اختار الرحيل والسفر ولكن بلا متاع ولا ذكريات......
مسرحيه رائعه والترجمه ممتازه للدكتور أنور لوقا

[Czarny Pies · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ce volume ne contient pas deux pièces de théâtre mais plutôt deux blagues qui ne sont pas ni l'une ni l'autre terriblement bonne.
"Le voyageur sans bagage" raconte l'histoire d'un amnésique que sa famille trouve dans une asile. Une fois qu'il apprend la vérité sur son passé et fait la connaissance des membres de sa famille, il décide de rentrer dans l'asile. Un coup de théâtre in extremis ne fait rien sauf mettre en lumière la faiblesse du concept de base.
Dans "Le bal des voleurs" on apprend que les coupes-trousses sont des bons gars et que les vrais bandits sont des financiers. Comme il fait souvent Anouilh présente la thèse que l'espoir du monde demeure dans la pureté de l'amour des jeunes personnes. Je suis moi-meme d'accord mais "Le bal des voleurs" est banal à pleurer.

[Myriam · Rating 4 out of 5]

À travers cette pièce en 5 tableaux, Jean Anouilh interroge l'utilisation individuelle du passé. Le devoir de mémoire doit-il se transformer en tyrannie ? Et quand le passé empêche de devenir celui que l'on est, et que l'on veut devenir, a-t-on le droit de l'oublier ?
Une pièce qui ne laisse pas indifférent.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amnesia! Mistaken identity! French!
A good one. We read it for class and acted out various scenes. It's almost like I was once proficient in French or something.

[Sara Shemes · Rating 4 out of 5]

أمثال مثل هذه الصدف هى ما تعطى الحياة معنى

[Nada Zaid · Rating 5 out of 5]

ان ماضيا بأكمله، بالنسبة لرجل بلا ذاكرة، انما هو عبء باهظ أثقل مما يطيق ظهره أن يحمله دفعة واحدة.

مسرحية المسافر بلا متاع لجان أنوي تدور حول جندي عاد من الحرب فاقدًا ذاكرته، فيعيش سنوات بلا اسم ولا ماضٍ، إلى أن تبدأ عدة عائلات في الادعاء بأنه ينتمي إليها. وخلال محاولات استعادة هويته، تتحول الذاكرة من نعمة منتظَرة إلى عبء ثقيل، إذ يكتشف أن شخصيته قبل الحرب لم تكن نبيلة ولا بريئة، بل على العكس.

وتطرح المسرحية سؤالًا عميقًا حول معنى الهوية: هل الإنسان هو تاريخه، أم اختياراته الحاضرة؟

وفي النهاية يختار جاستون أن ينتسب إلى صبي بلا ذكريات، صبي إنجليزي يفصله عن أصله الفرنسي، وحيد بلا عائلة ولا ماضٍ. يختار أن يعيش بلا اسم، بلا عائلة، بلا تاريخ، بدلًا من أن يعيش باسم معروف ولكن بروح فاسدة.




📖 اقتباس

ان حياتنا كلها وما بها من مبادئنا الأخلاقية الكريمة وحريتنا العزيزة ، انما قوامها في آخر الأمر أن تتقبل أنفسنا كما نحن ..



من بين آلاف الذكريات الممكنة، كانت ذكرى صديق هي التي أحن إليها بأعظم الشوق. لقد أقمت كل شيء على ذكرى هذا الصديق الخيالي.



أعتقد أن الانسان، حينما يصبح رجلا، لا يمكنه أن يجد مصدرًا للعزاء أكبر من صورة لطفولته تنعكس في عيني صديق طفولته.



"كان يظن نفسه صالحا، وهو ليس بصالح؛ فاضلا، ولكن هيهات. وحيدًا في الدنيا، وحرًا بالرغم من جدران الملجأ - غير أن الدنيا تعمرها كائنات قدم لها رهونًا وما زالت تنتظره وأدنى حركاته لا يمكنها أن تكون إلا امتدادا لحركات كان يأتي بها قديما. ما أبسط هذا !"


"إني أرفضكم. ليس لدى منذ أمس الذي لم أكد أقضيه بينكم - الا فيض من أشياء عنى ينبغى أن أنساها."

📚 كتاب 162
15/ 12/ 2025

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

Traveller without Luggage
این نمایش نامه ی ژان آنویی توسط افضل وثوقی به فارسی ترجمه شده و انتشارات روز آن را در 1347 چاپ و منتشر کرده است.

[Gabriel Conroy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Quite possibly the worst play I've ever read.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny, but one of the most distressing books I've ever read. Such a sad, sad portrait of man. But still well worth the read.

[esttempuslegendi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Les sujets traités sont très intrigants (la violence de la guerre, l’amnésie, les histoires de familles/les secrets), et la manière dont ils sont traités est intéressante. La négation de Gaston face à son ancienne vie nous paraît finalement compréhensible.

[Bassant · Rating 3 out of 5]

٣.٥

ماذا يبقى من الإنسان حين يجرد من ماضيه؟
هل الذكريات عبء؟ ولا هي الشيء الوحيد الي بيخلينا بشر؟
* لو مُنحت الفرصة لتغير ماضيك، عائلتك، هتستغل الفرصة؟!*
أول مرة اقرأ نص مسرحي

[Alina · Rating 1 out of 5]

These plays were written in 1937 and are very much stuck in their time, without relevance to present day public. Neither the themes nor the pace manage to be attractive nowadays.

[وائل المنعم · Rating 3 out of 5]

مسرحية رائعة، لم تعجبني النهاية، لكن باقي المسرحية محكم وممتع على مستوى الاحداث والحوار - مع ترجمة ممتازة لادوارد الخراط، قيمة المسرحية الفكرية تتجاوز الحبكة تتجاوز الفكرة الرئيسية حول ماضي الفرد والحق في رفضه لتشمل قضايا أخلاقية وإنسانية كبيرة عرضت بصورة فنية متميزة.

[John Takano · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you could start a new life, would you? Such is the question at the heart of this masterful play. Gaston, not knowing who he is, is paraded in front of family after family who are searching for the male relative they lost during the first world war. Finally, a truly probable family is found, but the man they are searching for is flawed to say the least. The intensity and emotion of the characters seep through every page of this masterpiece. The reader wonders along with Gaston if he is indeed the terrible man this family is looking for, and Anouilh gracefully keeps the plot moving and the reader engaged until the last line. What is at the heart of this play is of course the question I pose at the beginning of this review, but beyond that, Anouilh's play forces us to ask ourselves yet another difficult question: if you looked at your life as an outsider, what would you see, what would you say about it? I would also add that an equally important takeaway from this play is a message about family and how close familial bonds can be, despite the misdeeds of a family member. At what point do you cut someone off? Do you ever cut them off? These are but a few of the questions that will linger with you long after you have finished this play.

[Noam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twee klassieke Franse toneelstukken. ‘Le bal des voleurs’ is een amusante komedie van fouten. Ik was meer onder de indruk van ‘Le voyageur sans bagage’: De hoofdfiguur verloor zijn geheugen tijdens de 1ste wereldoorlog en nu worden ontmoetingen voor hem geregeld met gezinnen die denken dat hij hun verloren zoon is. Zonder te verklappen hoe deze zoektocht afloopt, kan ik zeggen dat het interessante vragen stelt: Kloppen mijn herinneringen van vroeger? (Hoe) pas ik bij mijn gezin van herkomst? Zou ik dit gezin kiezen als ik zelf kon kiezen in welk gezin geboren te worden? Enz enz. Eigenlijk las ik dit boek n.a.v. ‘Brief aan mijn moeder’ van Ischa Meijer. Zijn moeder noemde hem ‘Le voyageur sans bagage’ (p. 91 & 92). Je kunt zelf raden waarom of het zeer indrukwekkende ‘Brief aan mijn moeder’ lezen!

[Ahmed El Wakeel · Rating 3 out of 5]

مسرحية مسافر بلا متاع .. من المسرح الفرنسى
تحكى عن أحد الجنود الذى فقد ذاكرتة كليا خلال تأديتة الخدمة والواجب الوطنى مع بلادة أثناء الحرب العالمية الأولى وتوابعها ,تجتهد إحدى الأميرات الفرنسية فى لعب دور الوسيط لمحاولة التوصل إلى أصلة ونسبة , بالتوازى يستغل إبن أخيها - الطبيب - ذللك الجندى الفاقد لتاريخة كفأر تجارب حيث
يجرى علية بعض العمليات التى تفخر بها عمتة ولا يكترث لها ذلك الجندى المسكين .

يقابل عائلة تزعم نسبه إليهم ويقصوا علية قصص و حكاوى منفرة يشيب لها شعر الوليد , فيستمع تارة ويستنكر تارة أخرى ويهرب ويراوغ تارة اخيرة. يقرر رفض هذا الماضى .. ويستغل تلك الفرصة فى إختيار عائلة تكاد لا تعلم عن ماضية شيئا غير جرح قديم ترك علامة فى مؤخرة كتفة .
المسرحية خالية من أى تلميحات جنسية .
للإستماع .. او التحميل
http://archive.org/details/P2-Dra-Tra...

[stasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

J’ai mis 4 car j’aurais voulu mettre 5 pour « Le voyageur sans bagage » mais malheureusement je n’ai pas réellement aimé « Le val des voleurs » auquel j’aurais mis donc 3, donc voici 4 étoiles.

Le voyageur sans bagage est une pièce très fraîche qui se lit sans encombre. Elle remet en question le passé, si l’on peut et si l’on doit l’accepter (à remettre dans son contexte de 1937 dans une Seconde Guerre mondiale qui s’installe après celle de 14-18).

Quel rôle avons nous pour le passé ?

Pour le bal des voleurs, j’ai moins aimé. Je ne suis pas spécialement adepte de la comédie. Ceci dit, elle se lit bien même si je n’ai pas trouvé l’histoire très folle.

[Inma · Rating 4 out of 5]

J’ai beaucoup aimé cette pièce. Elle est fraîche et se lit rapidement en toute fluidité. On suit un homme dont son passé lui est inconnu après une amnésie causée à la guerre. La tante de son docteur à l’asile décide de l’aider à retrouver sa famille après 18 ans de vie en solitaire.

On va donc suivre cette homme qui veut (?) retrouver son passé.
On est amené à se demander s’il est de notre droit ou de notre devoir de se souvenir du passé, d’y faire face ou au contraire de l’oublier quand celui-ci est plus sombre que ce à quoi on ce serait attendu.

[Chimene Bateman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this after I read Anouilh's 'Antigone', which is also concerned with the theme of recognition (though in a less obvious way). 'Le Voyageur sans bagage' is quite a riveting account of someone with amnesia who slowly comes to realise that the person he was is not the person he wants to be. The social satire is caustic at points. The second Anouilh play included in this edition of the book, 'Le bal des voleurs', is much more frivolous but also thought-provoking.

[Sigrun · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be quite honest, I can't really remember much about this book. I do recall that I had a hard time getting through it. Why I had problems getting through it is hard to answer. It may be that I was going through a difficult time while I was reading for whatever reason.

Oops. Time to go. Hope to get back to this soon. Have to interrupt now.

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

*The translation I read was from this edition: Jean Anouilh: Seven Plays

[Stephanie A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of an amnesiac after WWI, read for a college French course. Not outstanding, but surprisingly manageable for a foreign language book (well, play), and kept me engaged in finding out who he was and how it would end.