The other pensioner

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Language and word inventors should have been told: »Does the term already exist in the dictionary? Then make an effort and come up with a new term!« Without the rule, laziness reigned and the same term was used for completely different situations. To be honest, this only leads to confusion. Especially with translations.

Before I get into the actual topic, a brief digression on the problem of »inconsistency«. The first names that have come up so far are

• Eugénie

• Gérard

• Antoinette

• Gisèle

• Marie

And then comes

• Emil

There are German forms of most of the names listed above: In the cheapest case, these are variants without an accent, because they are not common in this country and only drive people who are dictated the names mad. Often the first names also exist in German, for example Gerhard for Gérard or Maria for Marie. Of course, they weren't translated that way.

It's a mystery to me why Emile in the original becomes Emil in the German translation. Nobody would think of turning the name François into Franz in a Maigret these days ... why is it poor Emile? 

Hit twice

Poor Emile is hit twice in the story. His current »status« is also misleadingly stated. In a letter that Emile Blaise writes to the police, according to the Kampa translation, he states that he is a pensioner.

In German, a pensioner is understood to be a man who has worked in the civil service (i.e. a former civil servant) and is supported by the state in his old age. He has not paid into pension funds during his career as a civil servant. This is the state-civil servant deal: you are loyal in my service; you do everything I want; you don't allow yourself to be corrupted and I, as the state, make sure that you have a good livelihood in your old age. That works quite well, even if it is too expensive and not very flexible for some people. Unless, of course, a certain occupational group goes on strike - then ideas like: Why don't we make them civil servants? (Then train drivers should be civil servants [which they used to be, hihi], kindergarten teachers as well as the people who pick up the garbage. Not after the end of the strike, of course!) It seems amusing that you can be a pensioner and a retiree at the same time. If someone worked as an employee for twenty years and then became a civil servant, the two are neatly separated.

In French, no linguistic distinction is made between »the pension« (in the retirement sense) and »the retirement«. In both cases, »retraité« is the word of choice. There is also no distinction between retirees according to their previous employer. The financial component is also different from that in Germany. Employees pay into different funds, depending on their job, and this is also how the payments are made. I have not found any evidence that employees in public service do not have to pay into a retirement fund.

German readers (at least) would associate the term »pensioner« with the fact that the man used to work in the civil service. However, this leads them on the wrong track. Because there is no mention of this in the original - Emile Blaise chose a different term there: »rentier«.

Confusion plus

A glance at the dictionary seems to prove those who think they are talking about ordinary pensioners right: it says that a »rentier« is someone who lives either entirely or at least predominantly from pensions.

What is not mentioned here: This does not refer to payments from a pay-as-you-go system such as the German or French pension insurance. Rather, it refers to regular income from securities or rent. This income is also called a pension.

People usually retire at the age of sixty or older (there are plenty of exceptions, but they are not the rule). The social insurance systems provide for their livelihood with their payments. Pensions are calculated for individuals according to their income during their working life and the time during which they paid into the funds. It is well known that there are various specialties here - but this is not the topic. 

If someone has earned money - e.g. high income, inheritance, robbery - they can invest it. A reindeer can thus earn an income and live well from it ... in the best case even splendidly. However, it is not possible to draw any conclusions about his approximate age. A lucky inheritance or gift at the tender age of eighteen and a clever investment strategy can ensure that you never have to spend a day in a dull job.

Because Emile Blaise describes himself as a reindeer, there is no way for the reader to estimate his age. There is only the indication, when he enters the scene in the story, that he is middle-aged. Today, this describes an age of between 35 and 65 - at the time, this was probably pushed forward due to differences in life expectancy. So it is not unlikely that Monsieur Blaise was around forty or fifty years old. And so he was not of pensioner or retired age.

Simenon does not explain how the man achieved his wealth. The fact that Monsieur Blaise was still busy investing his money is made clear by a remark that he was going to the stock exchange.

To summarize: not all pensions are the same. And a rentier is not a pensioner or retiree. The better term, albeit also outdated, would be privateer. Sounds noble and harmless. (I've come across the word »privateer« in other Maigret translations. In reference to this passage, the term »rentier« was chosen in earlier translations).

In fact, Monsieur could also have called himself a »capitalist«. But that's not how you want to sign it.