be something more than ready-made, it must bear within itself some sign which tells us, beyond the possibility of doubt, that it was uttered automatically.  This can only happen when the phrase embodies some evident absurdity, either a palpable error or a contradiction in terms.  Hence the following general rule:  A comic meaning is invariably obtained when an absurd idea is fitted into A well-established phrase-form.

“Ce sabre est le plus beau jour de ma vie,” said M. Prudhomme.  Translate the phrase into English or German and it becomes purely absurd, though it is comic enough in French.  The reason is that “le plus beau jour de ma vie” is one of those ready-made phrase-endings to which a Frenchman’s ear is accustomed.  To make it comic, then, we need only clearly indicate the automatism of the person who utters it.  This is what we get when we introduce an absurdity into the phrase.  Here the absurdity is by no means the source of the comic, it is only a very simple and effective means of making it obvious.

We have quoted only one saying of M. Prudhomme, but the majority of those attributed to him belong to the same class.  M. Prudhomme is a man of ready-made phrases.  And as there are ready-made phrases in all languages, M. Prudhomme is always capable of being transposed, though seldom of being translated.  At times the commonplace phrase, under cover of which the absurdity slips in, is not so readily noticeable.  “I don’t like working between meals,” said a lazy lout.  There would be nothing amusing in the saying did there not exist that salutary precept in the realm of hygiene:  “One should not eat between meals.”

Sometimes, too, the effect is a complicated one.  Instead of one commonplace phrase-form, there are two or three which are dovetailed into each other.  Take, for instance, the remark of one of the characters in a play by Labiche, “Only God has the right to kill His fellow-creature.”  It would seem that advantage is here taken of two separate familiar sayings; “It is God who disposes of the lives of men,” and, “It is criminal for a man to kill his fellow-creature.”  But the two sayings are combined so as to deceive the ear and leave the impression of being one of those hackneyed sentences that are accepted as a matter of course.  Hence our attention nods, until we are suddenly aroused by the absurdity of the meaning.  These examples suffice to show how one of the most important types of the comic can be projected—­in a simplified form—­on the plane of speech.  We will now proceed to a form which is not so general.