THE PROVENÇAL VILLAGE
Pistachié
Cotton nightcap, baggy pants, two full baskets and a dried salt cod in hand: Pistachié is the comic relief of the Provençal nativity. He’s also the only santon whose whole story we can tell, because he has a real part in the play: a coward who gets tricked, sells his shadow and falls into a well.
What you see
A cotton cap, wide drop-front trousers held up by cloth suspenders, and arms full. A survey of the specialist books describes him holding “the silver cod, flat and dry” and carrying “two big baskets of treats“: flatbreads, olive-oil sweet bread, dried cod, strings of garlic, oil, poultry.
He brings a lot but owns nothing: a farmhand’s gift, made of whatever he could find in a farm kitchen. Several workshops also make a version of Pistachié fallen into the well, where you only see his chest and arms.
His role in the pastorale
He has lines from the first act of the Pastorale Maurel, and his story is the one the play follows most closely. Tourisme Marseille sums it up: “Pistachié the coward, who is hoodwinked by the boumian and sells him his shadow (his soul) for a purse of money.” The fourth act brings “Pistachié’s fall into the well, pushed by the boumian,” which leads to the ending.
Two things stand out. First, he’s defined by fear, not stupidity: he’s afraid of the Bohemians before he even sees them, and that’s what makes him easy to trick. Second, his deal isn’t just a village prank. Selling your shadow means selling your soul, the same idea as Faust or Chamisso’s Peter Schlemihl.
His sidekick in the play is Jigèt, the stutterer who looks after the donkey and stays home because, he says, he isn’t good at anything. That’s a telling detail: if you look for “the simpleton” in the play, you’ll find Jigèt, not the ravi who usually gets that label.
The cast of the pastorale lists him alongside the blind man, the boumian, the miller and his dog Pimpara, the knife grinder, Jiget, Roustido, Jourdan, Margarido and Benvengu.
Bartoumieu, Canissoun: the same under other names
Provence doesn’t have just one pastorale, it has dozens. Two are the most popular: Maurel’s, in Provençal, and Jean-François Audibert’s, written later and mostly in French. The same comic character has a different name in each.
The specialist books (Delesty, Mariaud and Lartigue, Gamet, Majoie le Lous) describe Pistachié (Maurel) and Bartoumieu (Audibert) as “the same character from the two most performed pastorales in Provence.” A third name, Canissoun, is used for the same role elsewhere. There are small differences: Bartoumieu is more of a drunkard, while Pistachié is mainly a lovesick coward.
Good to know when you’re shopping: depending on the workshop and region, a very similar figure may be labeled with either name. It’s not a mistake.
What his name means, and what we don’t know
The usual explanation is that pistachié means a skirt-chaser, a ladies’ man, or sometimes a matchmaker. You’ll see it everywhere.
But we haven’t found it in any dictionary. The one book that could settle it is Frédéric Mistral’s Trésor dóu Felibrige, which we haven’t been able to check yet. So for now, the meaning of Pistachié is unconfirmed. It may be right, but it isn’t proven, and we’d rather say so than repeat it one more time.
Where to place him in the nativity
Near the well. That’s where he falls in, and he’s the only santon whose best spot comes straight from a scene in the play. If you’ve built a well, it’s found its owner. See the well and the mill.
Otherwise, on the path. He’s carrying two baskets to the stable, so he belongs in the procession. Put him halfway there, facing the stable.
Leave room around his hands. His baskets and his cod are what make him recognizable. Pressed against a wall or another santon, he gets lost, which is a common problem in crowded nativities. See arrangement.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Pistachié in the Provençal nativity?
He’s the farmhand from the pastorale: naive, boastful and above all a scaredy-cat. The boumian tricks him into selling his shadow for a purse of money, and he ends up pushed into the well in the fourth act. In the nativity, he’s the village’s comic character, the one everything happens to.
Why does Pistachié carry a cod?
Dried cod is his traditional gift, along with his two big baskets of food: flatbreads, olive-oil sweet bread, strings of garlic, poultry. It’s both a poor man’s gift and a holiday treat. Dried cod was the fish of Lent and meatless days, and a staple for families of modest means. (It’s the same salt cod, or baccalà, that Italian-American families serve on Christmas Eve for the Feast of the Seven Fishes.)
Are Pistachié and Bartoumieu the same character?
The specialist books describe them as the same character from the two most popular pastorales in Provence: Pistachié in Maurel’s, Bartoumieu in Audibert’s. The name Canissoun also turns up. Their personalities differ slightly (Bartoumieu is more of a drunkard), but they play the same role.
What does Pistachié mean?
We don’t know for sure. The explanation you’ll see everywhere says it means a skirt-chaser, but we haven’t found that in any dictionary, and we haven’t yet been able to check Mistral’s Trésor dóu Felibrige, the one book that could settle it. Take that translation with a grain of salt.
Where do you place Pistachié?
Near the well, if your scene has one: that’s where his misadventure happens, and many workshops even make a version of him fallen in. Otherwise, on the path to the stable with his baskets, since he’s one of the gift bearers.