A Long Silence
Page 25
La caille, la tourterelle, et la jolie perdrix,
Et ma jolie colombe qui chante jour et nuit. Auprès de ma blonde, qu’il fait bon,
fait bon, fait bon—Auprès de ma blonde, qu’il fait bon dormir!
Et ma jolie colombe, qui chante jour et nuit,
Qui chante pour les filles qui n’ont pas de mari—
Ne chante pas pour elle: elle en a un joli!
Il est dans la Hollande, les Hollandais l’ont pris.
Auprès de ma blonde, qu’il fait bon, fait bon, fait bon
—Auprès de ma blonde, qu’il fait bon dormir!
Que donnerez-vous, belle, pour revoir votre ami?
—Je donnerai Versailles, Paris et Saint-Denis,
Les tours de Notre-Dame, le clocher de mon pays,
Et ma jolie colombe qui chante jour et nuit…
Auprès de ma blonde, qu’il fait bon, fait bon, fait bon
Auprès de ma blonde, qu’il fait bon dormir!
In my father’s garden the bay-trees have bloomed. All the birds of the sky are come to make their nest: the amorous quail, the loving turtle-dove, the pretty partridge and my sweet bird of peace.
Sweet bird of peace sings night and day. Sings for the girls who have no man – but not for her; she has a man and a lovely one he is! He is in Holland. The Dutch have taken him …
What will you give then, pretty girl, to have your lover back again? I would give all of Versailles, Paris and Saint-Denis. I would give the towers of Notre-Dame, and my village steeple. And I would give too my sweet bird of peace, who sings to me all day and all night…
This electronic edition published in 2011 by Bloomsbury Reader
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Copyright © Nicolas Freeling, 1972
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ISBN: 9781448207008
eISBN: 9781448206919
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