COMMUNITY IMPRESSION OF A BRIT Fattypuffs and Thinifers, Ghegs and Tosks When I arrived in Brussels half-a-century ago, one of the first indications of intra-community tensions was a sign in French on a shop door in the periphery: “no entry for beggars, hawkers and French-speakers” (“accès interdit aux mendiants, colporteurs et francophones”). I thought this was a bit harsh, particularly since the francophones were left to the end… Richard Hill B ut this reminded me of André Maurois, the French author, who wrote a book ostensibly for children but with a cryptic message for adults. Entitled Patapoufs et Filifers (Fattypuffs and Thinifers in the English edition), it described an underground world divided between two incompatible nations, one pleasure-loving and pacific (the Patapoufs/ Fattypuffs), the other nervous and irritable (the Filifers/Thinifers). At the time it was published (the early 1930s), adult readers could have been forgiven for thinking that the Patapoufs/Fattypuffs were a thinly disguised version of the French nation, while the Filifers/Thinifers were the Germans. But, to quote Maurois in person, “the minds of different generations are as impenetrable one by the other as are the monads of Leibniz.” Which J P Hartley expressed much more elegantly with the words: “The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.” So the French/German interpretation of the book has failed to stand the test of time. The Germans are the pleasure- and peace-loving people these days, making the French look positively warlike by comparison (all of which is part of the ‘Us & Them’ makeup of the human mind). A much more intriguing interpretation these days is the idea that Maurois might have been thinking of Albania. After all, this is a nation divided into competing tribes, the Ghegs to the north and the Tosks to the south, divided by the Shkumbin River (yes indeed!). A very neat, almost fictional, arrangement you might say. Moreover, genetic divisions between the two tribes were reinforced by religious and political alignments which kept them apart during the long period of Ottoman rule (15th20th centuries). The Tosk-inhabited south of the country was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire, while the northern and viscerally tribal Ghegs kept their independence both of the Ottomans and of one another. Most people know little about Albania these days except that its leader, prior to the collapse of communism, spent most of his national budget building reinforced concrete pillboxes that were never used for defence but only, since then, as holiday homes and fast food outlets. Now despite its recently chequered record as an ally of communist China, Albania can take credit for a number of important contributions to the European past. The original inhabitants of this small country were the Illyrians, along with the Basques one of the most distinguished and distinguishable elements in this continent’s early history. Over the intervening centuries, Albanians succeeded in colonising much of the west coast of Greece, penetrating into the Peloponnese in the south and even to Thrace in the northeast. A friend of mine, who perhaps significantly is a Greek national from the island of Crete, insists that the Greeks on the west side of the country are essentially Albanians and those on the east side are Slavs… But back to Andre Maurois : isn’t it reasonable to think that he was writing about Albania? Yet, the odd thing is that he was living in Canada when he wrote the book. So maybe, after all he was thinking of the French and the British? Since we’re on the subject of Albania, here is an ethnic joke which involves Albanians (and inevitably Greeks): An Albanian knocks at the door of a Greek farmhouse after a long and tiring journey across the mountains and asks for food. “Sorry,” says the Greek, “we've nothing ready. Would you mind eating yesterday's food?” “Happily!” says the Albanian, his eyes widening in anticipation. “Then come back tomorrow,” says the Greek. The Greek, it seems, is an Albanian in disguise. ● BECI - Bruxelles métropole - avril 2015 51
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