Bamban

Bamban is a boy at a college in the Cévennes, where his uneven gait has earned him a mocking nickname and made him a target for his supervisor, Daniel Eyssette. His brief appearance in Le Petit Chose turns on a reversal: Daniel first joins in the treatment that isolates him, then recognizes his own childhood in Bamban and responds with care.

Identity and Circumstances

Bamban is a young pupil under Daniel’s supervision. The account identifies him by his difficulty walking: his classmates call him by a nickname tied to his gait, and his legs hurt after he tries to keep pace with them. The evidence gives no diagnosis or fuller account of his life; it presents the difference chiefly through how others respond to it.

On a Sunday outing, Bamban arrives in a state that shocks the group. He has blackened hands, shoes without laces, mud in his hair, and little clothing left in good order. Yet the signs of a mother’s effort remain visible: his hair has been pomaded and his tie arranged before he was sent out. The muddy journey to the college has undone that care, leaving his dishevelment open to the other pupils’ amusement.

The Outing and Its Humiliation

The pupils turn the walk into a prank at Bamban’s expense. They set off at speed and repeatedly look back to see whether he can follow; he appears far behind, moving through the dust among sellers of cakes and lemonade. Their amusement makes his physical effort part of the spectacle. Bamban nevertheless reaches the Prairie almost when the others do, pale with fatigue and limping badly.

Until then, Daniel has taken part in Bamban’s mistreatment. Seeing the boy’s exhaustion touches him and brings shame, and he calls Bamban over gently. The change is immediate but not yet explained: Daniel’s attention shifts from the comic appearance that had first drawn the group’s notice to the boy who has struggled to catch up.

Recognition and Response

The turning point is a faded, red-checked blouse Bamban is wearing. Daniel recognizes it as the blouse he himself wore as a pupil at the college in Lyon. The garment links the shabby present before him to his own earlier experience of poverty and ridicule. In that recognition, Bamban ceases to be merely the object of a prank: Daniel understands that he has been tormenting a figure who recalls his younger self.

Daniel’s response changes from mockery to affection. He sits beside Bamban when the boy sits down because his legs hurt, speaks with him, and buys him an orange. He even wishes he could wash Bamban’s feet, a wish that conveys how completely his impulse has shifted toward tending to him. The passage records no speech from Bamban and no further outcome for him; its emphasis is on Daniel’s late recognition and the care that follows.