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Je suis aimée des petits enfants; dès qu'ils me voient, ils courent à moi, et s'accrochent à ma tunique et prennent mes jambes dans leurs petits bras. S'ils ont cueilli des fleurs, ils me les donnent toutes ; s'ils ont pris un scarabée ils le mettent dans ma main; s'ils n'ont rien ils me caressent et me font asseoir devant eux. Alors ils m'embrassent sur la joue, ils posent leurs têtes sur mes seins ; ils me supplient avec les yeux. Je sais bien ce que cela veut dire. Cela veut dire: "Bilitis chérie, [dis-nous]1, car nous sommes gentils, l'histoire du héros Perseus ou la mort de la petite Hellé."
1 Debussy and some editions of Louÿs: "redis-nous" (added by Emily Ezust)
Authorship:
- by Pierre-Félix Louis (1870 - 1925), as Pierre Louÿs, "Les contes", appears in Les Chansons de Bilitis, in Bucoliques en Pamphylie, no. 18 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Jeanne Bernard (1895 - 1965), "Les contes" [ voice and piano ], from Trois chansons de Bilitis, no. 2, Paris, Senart [sung text not yet checked]
- by André-Marie Cuvelier , "Les contes", 1935 [ voice and piano ], from Chansons de Bilitis, 2ème recueil, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Georges Dandelot (1895 - 1975), "Les contes", published 1924 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Georges Dandelot (1895 - 1975), "Les contes", 1924, published 1929, first performed 1929 [ high voice and piano ], from Six Chansons de Bilitis, 1er recueil, no. 2, Paris, Éd. Max Eschig [sung text not yet checked]
- by Claude Achille Debussy (1862 - 1918), "Les contes", L. 102/(96) no. 3, from Chansons de Bilitis, no. 3, note: incidental music to accompany the recitation of twelve prose poems. [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Marvin J. Ward) , "The tales", copyright © 2003, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Geschichten", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Marvin J. Ward
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 15
Word count: 110
I am beloved of the little children; as soon as they see me, they run to me, and clutch my tunic, and take my legs in their little arms. If they have gathered flowers, they give them all to me; if they have caught a beetle, they put it in my hand; if they have nothing, they caress me and make me sit down in front of them. Then they kiss me on the cheek, they put their heads on my breasts; they plead with me with their eyes. I know well what that means. That means: "Dear Bilitis, tell us [again] because we are nice, the story of the hero Perseus or the death of little Hellé. "
Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2003 by Marvin J. Ward, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Pierre-Félix Louis (1870 - 1925), as Pierre Louÿs, "Les contes", appears in Les Chansons de Bilitis, in Bucoliques en Pamphylie, no. 18
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 15
Word count: 119