Diary of Marie Bashkirtseff
CZENUKFR

Friday, 19 October 1877

My terrible past!...
Even now it torments me. For every time I think of something done or still to be done, I am reminded of something similar or approaching it — and so shameful, so sad!
The present is going well. We are good comrades and people no longer restrain themselves from saying silly things in my presence.
This tone and certain vulgar things shock me a little — but the good-fellowship, the artistic spirit, saves everything. They travesty proverbs and words like Mistigri, and it is always fresh and amusing.

Notes

Mistigri is a character in Balzac's play Le Faiseur (also known as Mercadet) — or more likely a reference to the card game character — associated with scrambling and misquoting phrases for comic effect. Marie uses "like Mistigri" to mean mangling proverbs for fun. ↩