The drawing of a drunken man by Faria is more realistic than the complete oeuvre of Emile Zola. The poor devil is so soaked that he can’t control his bowel movements any more. And to make matters worse, his pants have seen better days. Faria took the title of the monologue quite literally: un pochard means a drunk, a dipsomaniac. A la Cambronne can be translated as ‘in the manner of Cambronne’. Pierre Cambronne was a French general who allegedly replied ‘Merde !’ when he had to surrender in Waterloo. So the expression ‘à la Cambronne’ became a euphemism for merde.
Drunk as shit, I suppose…
