Literal translation
The fine first (one)
Meaning
the very first
Explanation
This phrase names the very first person or thing in a series, the adjective bèu (beautiful, fine) adding an admiring emphasis that works as a superlative: it says the fine first, going beyond the plain first, much as French intensifies with the very first. Placed before the noun, as in French une bel homme, bèu here functions above all as an intensifier, underlining how undeniable the rank is, without aiming at an aesthetic judgment. It is used of a child, of an event, or simply to stress that someone was, beyond question, first to do or say something. The register is everyday, familiar and positive, without irony: unlike some other Provençal turns of phrase, bèu here carries no mockery, only admiration or plain insistence on precedence.