One of the favorite characters of the French puppet theater is Punchinelle, the prototype of the domestic Petrushka, who loves to tell secrets known to the whole district. Thanks to this, the hero appeared a stable phrase "the secret of Punchinel", that is, an imaginary secret or already known information.
The history of the appearance of the character of Punchinel
Polichinelle is a fictional comic character, a collective image of a jester who was born on the stage of the French puppet theater at the end of the sixteenth century.
Pulcinella (Pulcinella), the Italian character of the comedy of masks, or the commedia dell'arte, in England turned into Punch, in the Czech Republic - in Kasparek, in Russia - in Petrushka, and in France - in Polichinel.
Outwardly unsightly hunchback-bully in a red outfit and a cap, a lover of chatting and having fun, tells secrets that everyone knows, but - as he claims - "they don't dare to voice." He very quickly wins the sympathy of the audience of the puppet theater, causing endless laughter with his actions and stories.
His function in the play, like that of his jester relatives, is to ridicule human vices, including stupidity, which he himself symbolizes. One of the most famous and popular stories about Punchinel is the betrayal of his wife (Columbine) with Harlequin. All the heroes of the play knew about this, except for the jester himself. But no one told him about it, because everyone knows it anyway. And he himself did not manage to ask anyone about it.
What does the expression "Punchinel's secret" mean?
The expression "Punchinel's secret" has become a winged expression, and now it is used in cases when they want to show the absurdity of the disclosed information. Many journalists, politicians and writers use this phraseological unit in their texts and speeches. Therefore, you can often hear or read the phrase: "Their secret is like the secret of Punchinelle." This means that this secret has long been made public or has never been. After all, Punchinelle himself, under the guise of a secret, told everyone known things.
The meaning of an expression that has come down to the present time from the past is to communicate facts that have become known long ago. But another hidden meaning of the phrase is to skillfully pretend that this hackneyed truth was heard for the first time.
Once he asked those around him if they knew who the king of France was, and when he heard the answer - Louis, he laughed and replied that the king was a fool! The surrounding people agreed with him, but noted that they knew it without him. It turns out that Punchinelle did not have a secret, but at the same time he knew how to interest those around him with his imaginary secret, and even - oddly enough - managed to take money for voicing it.
Therefore, the secret that everyone knows, except for the most trusting and stupid, is called "the secret of the Open". And people who seek to take on a mysterious appearance and hide popular facts from others are called "Openwork".
