Literal translation
do good to Bertrand...
Meaning
what ingratitude!
Explanation
This phrase means 'what ingratitude!'. It is the opening line of a fuller saying that continues: do good to Bertrand, and he repays you by shitting on it, a crude sentence that illustrates, through a deliberately coarse example, the idea that kindness often turns against the one who shows it, the person helped responding with contempt or indifference, without the gratitude expected. Bertrand functions here as an ordinary first name, chosen mainly for its sound and for how easily it rhymes with the rest of the saying, with no particular historical figure or biographical origin to look for. This kind of disillusioned folk wisdom, warning against the letdowns of generosity, appears across many cultures in more or less crude forms, the Provençal version standing out for its deliberate vulgarity and dark humor, typical of an oral register that puts comic effect ahead of politeness. It is used to comment, with a mix of bitterness and irony, on a situation where one feels betrayed after having done someone a good turn.