La belle s’est endormie sur un beau lit de roses
The beauty fell asleep on a beautiful bed of roses
La belle s’est endormie sur un beau lit de roses
The beauty fell asleep on a beautiful bed of roses
Blanche comme la neige belle comme le jour
White as snow, beautiful as [the] day
Ils sont trois capitaines qui vont lui faire l’amour
There are three captains who will make love with her

Le plus jeune des trois la prend par sa main blanche
The youngest of the three takes her by her white hand
Le plus jeune des trois la prend par sa main blanche
The youngest of the three takes her by her white hand
Montez, montez princesse dessus mon cheval gris
Climb, climb Princess on top of my gray horse
A Paris j’vous mène dans un fort beau logis
To Paris, I’m taking you, to a beautiful home

Finissant ce discours le capitaine rentre
As he stopped speaking, the captain comes in
Finissant ce discours le capitaine rentre
As he stopped speaking, the captain comes in
Mangez buvez la belle selon votre appétit
Eat and drink Beauty to your appetite
Avec un capitaine vous passerez la nuit
With a captain you will spend the night

Au milieu du repas la belle a [sic] tombé morte
In the middle of the meal, the beauty dropped dead
Au milieu du repas la belle a tombé morte
In the middle of the meal, the beauty dropped dead
Sonnez, sonnez les cloches, tambour au régiment   
Ring, ring the bells, beat the drums regiment
Ma maîtresse elle est morte à l’âge de quinze ans
My mistress she has died at the age of fifteen

Mais au bout de trois jours son père s’y promène
But at the end of three days her father walks by
Mais au bout de trois jours son père s’y promène
But at the end of three days her father walks by
Ouvrez, ouvrez ma tombe mon père si vous m’aimez
Open, open my coffin my father if you love me
Trois jours j’ai fait la morte pour mon honneur garder
For three days I’ve played dead, for my honor to keep

The translation above is mine. It is mostly word for word, so one can understand the original French. It is a folk song and folk legend, from French Canada or France. It is only remotely related to Christmas, because Beauty is as white as snow.

Kate and Anna McGarrigle

Love to everyone 💕

 

© Micheline Walker
28 August 2020
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