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Traduzione
In the shade of my dear one's heart
In the shade of my dear one's heart
A bird1 had gone to sleep
One day when the was pretending
to be Sleeping Beauty2.
Then that odd person of ill omen
started shouting "Stop thief!
Stop thief!" and "Murderer!"
As if I was going at his breast.
At the calls of this starling4,
utter chaos ensues,
everyone and his dog5 rushes up
straight away to bring him help.
So much hubub and rumbling riot
frightened all the charm away,
and the beauty, disillusioned,
shut her heart to my kiss.
And it's since that time, my sister
that I became a hunter,
that, crossbow in my hand,
I go through the woods and the paths.
- 1. literally: "a bird"; but in 1950s slang it meant "an odd person"
- 2. literally: "The Beauty sleeping in the Wood" which was the what the fairy tale girl was called in an early French version of the fairy tale - much earlier than any surviving German or English version
- 3. or do rather more than kiss her
- 4. literally "starling", continuing the "bird" theme with another slang meaning: a silly thoughtless person
- 5. literally "everyone and his father"
michealt✕
Georges Brassens: 3 più popolari
| 1. | Je me suis fait tout petit |
| 2. | Les passantes |
| 3. | La mauvaise réputation |
Commenti
PaotrLaouen
Mar, 03/03/2020 - 18:37
I disagree on the first footnote to the English translation. In popular French (not slang!) "oiseau" can mean "a guy" only in a couple or so of fixed expressions which admit no variation, viz. "un drôle d'oiseau" and "cet oiseau-là". ("Oiseau de malheur" is a different business, as it may apply to all kinds of beings.)
In my opinion, what we have here is barely a reminiscence of a well-known topos in traditional children songs where we often have a (sleeping) beauty, a bird, and a tree or a fountain.
Russia is waging a disgraceful war on Ukraine. Stai con l'Ucraina!
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