Jean Yanne La coupe de Charlemagne

Do you know the story of Charlemagne?

The one about his three sons, and the cup?

[Jugnot] Tell us this glorious
tale, Uncle Paul.

Charlemagne...
[Laughs]

Charlemagne's cup was
hidden in Aachen.

When Charlemagne felt his
own death approaching,

when he felt he was about to
leave his earthly life,

Thinking of his earthly legacy,
he sent for his three sons:

Clodomir, Chilperic, and Adelbert.

He told them, "Listen well. Before I die,
I want to share the secret of my cup,

The Cup of Charlemagne."

"But first, you must go and
retrieve the cup for me."

He told Chilperic,

"Go to the garden.
Take the middle path.

When you get to the corner of
the fountain, you'll see a type of rock.

On the rock is a mark.
Press this mark.

The rock will pivot.
You will see a stairway.

Go down the stairway.

It will take you to a large room,
with columns all along the sides.

There is a chest near one of the columns.
Inside the chest is a key.

Bring me the key.

[Jugnot] He went very quickly.
[Laughs]

[Jugnot] He gave himself
indigestion.

[Yanne] So, Chilperic left...
[Zitrone] On his quest.

[Yanne] He took the path,
found the rock, pressed it,

the rock pivoted, he went downstairs,

and came to the room.

He found the columns,
went between them,

and found the chest. He opened it,
took the key, and brought it back.

Charlemagne said to his second son,
Adelbert,

"Take this key and go upstairs,
up through all the floors.

When you get to the 5th floor,

you will see a small door.
So take the key, and with it,

open the small door.
You will see a larger door.

Behind the large door is a room.
Don't go in that one.

Go in the second room, beside it.
[Laughs]

[Jugnot] OK, right away he got 500 balls.
[Yanne] In that second room,

there are four tapestries.

Lift the fourth tapestry. You will
see a latch. Open the latch,

and you will see a ladder.
Go down that ladder,

and at the bottom of the ladder,
you will see a sort of...

[Laughs]

...gallery.

So, in this gallery, there is a bottle.
Take the bottle,

and look inside it.
In the bottle,

there is a chain. Take the chain,

and hang it on the hook behind you.

Pull on the chain. This will
bring down a hook.

A hammer will fall.
Bring me the hammer.

[Laughs]

So, obviously,

Adelbert hurried off;
he accomplished everything.

He went up to the 5th floor,
he went into the second room,

he lifted the tapestry,
he pulled the latch,

pulled the chain, got the hammer,
and brought the hammer back.

Charlemagne said to him,
"Great, now for the third son."

I don't remember --
which son was it?

[Bouvard] It was Clodo --
[Yanne] Clodomir.

He told Clodomir, "Take the hammer,
and go...to the throne room.

In the throne room, find my throne.

Take the hammer, and with it,

tap on the coat of arms
which is engraved on my throne.

The throne will pivot.

Underneath the throne, there are...

a lot of wicker pallets.

Take a wicker pallet, and go
to the guard room.

Find the weapons rack
in the guard room,

and put the pallet beneath it.

Turn, and drag the weapons rack

and behind the rack, you will find...

[Laughs]

a sort of box. Take the box.

Charlemagne's Cup is in the box.

So you meant, in my cup.

OK so, Clodomir went off, did all that,
lifted the pallet and retrieved the cup.

Charlemagne raised the cup and said,
"So here is my cup.

And now, before I die, I want to tell you

...the secret of The Cup of Charlemagne."

He took...

some wine, poured it into his cup,
and said,

"Here. You can drink from this cup
any time you wish.

But be sure to always drink from this
side of the cup, and not the other."

One of the sons replied,

"But why, father?"

Charlemagne said, "Because.
If you drink from the other side,

you don't care about the mouth."

[Laughter, Applause.]

[Bouvard] What a wonderful story.
[Laughs]

[Bouvard] Is the story over?
[Yanne] Oh no. I can do more.

[Laughter]

[Applause]