Père-Lachaise, one drawing, five francs - A story for Modì

Montand sits on a bench next to a gentleman and lights a cigarette, while the other four talk and stroll nearby. The stranger looks at him, calmly lights his pipe and keeps on staring at him through a bluish cloud of smoke. Then, “Sir, sorry to disturb you, but you really look a lot like the great Yves Montand.”

“Really? You think so? They told me so many times that I almost believe it.”

“Damn! You even have his same voice. I met him in person many years ago, during one of his concerts. Afterwards, we went to dinner in a restaurant together with other people. I had the chance to talk to him and I must say that he made a great impression on me. He was very nice, as well as a great singer and actor. And you are his double. If I believed in ghosts, I would think that you are really Yves Montand.”

“Well, if you want to know, I am Yves Montand for real. I had special permission to return to my Paris for a few hours and here I am, next to you.”

The poor man, startled by those words and naively incredulous, “My God, I believed you for a moment. Come on, sir, let’s not joke.”

Montand, pointing at his four friends, “I’m not kidding. That young man with that girl is the great painter Amedeo Modigliani, and she is his woman, Jeanne Hébuterne. The man next to them is Maurice Utrillo, the famous painter of Paris’ landscapes. The lady who is chatting with him is the great dancer, Isadora Duncan.”

The man slowly turns his gaze to the four characters, notices Modigliani and gets confused, “My goodness! He looks a lot like him...”

Recovering from astonishment, angrily, “Tell me, sir, are you trying to fool me? Do you think I’m an idiot? I didn’t come here tonight to be ridiculed by a madman, do you understand? Now leave me alone and get away from me. Immediately!”

“As you wish, sir, but what I said is the plain truth. Anyway, I’m clearing out of here now. Bye-bye!”

The singer stands up and calls out to his friends “Mr. Modigliani, Jeanne. Isadora, Maurice, it’s better to go, don’t you think?”

The unwitting gentleman, increasingly confused, jumps off the bench and walks away, turning several times to look at those characters, certainly jokers who want to make fun of him.