Part II, Book 1, Chapter 14
The Last Square
Napoleon has been captured! Is this freaking long account of the Battle of Waterloo finally over?
You fool, you imbecile. Of course it’s not. We have to circle back to check on the Guard, obviously.
Despite the rest of the French army fleeing and surrendering (and being murdered while surrendering), the Guard stood firm even as it was clear the battle was lost. Each individual regiment was isolated and surrounded by enemy forces, and all died making their last stands.
At 9 PM, one last square of the Guard remained, led by a fella named Cambronne. When all was well and truly lost (their flag was shot to shreds!), the English paused in their assault and an English officer yelled, “Brave Frenchmen, surrender!”
To which Cambronne shouted back, “Merde!“
Obviously “merde”—literally meaning “shit”—in this case wasn’t an “oh shit” so much as it was a “fuck you!” which is absolutely ICONIC STUFF. This is both incredibly funny (a dude yelling “SHIT!” is literally a part of one of the greatest Western novels!) and has the exact same energy as the Ukrainian border guard saying “Russian warship, go fuck yourself.”
What I’m learning is that the only logical response to being told to surrender is to use your choicest expletive.
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