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It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

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by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
Translation © by Ehud Shapiro

A grasshopper and a fly
Language: English 
Our translations:  HEB
A grasshopper and a fly,
In summer hot and dry,
In eager argument were met
About, about priority.

Says the fly to the grasshopper:
"From mighty race I spring,
Bright Phoebus was my dad 'tis known,
And I eat and drink with a king."

Says the grasshopper to the fly:
"Such rogues are still preferr'd;
Your father might be of high degree,
But your mother was but a turd."

So, rebel Jemmy Scott,
That did to the empire soar,
His father might be the Lord knows what,
But his mother we knew a whore,
A whore, a whore, a whore.

Note (from Ehud Shapiro): James "Jemmy" Scott, the first Duke of Monmouth was the eldest -- and probably favourite -- of Charles II's twelve bastard children. When Charles II brother was elected to succeed him as James II, he led a rebellion against his uncle. He lost and got beheaded (after 6 failed trials with the ax so they say). Brave Purcell published this song in support of Jemmy's uncle one year after Jemmy's deafeat and death.


Text Authorship:

  • by Anonymous / Unidentified Author [author's text not yet checked 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 Henry Purcell (1658/9 - 1695), "A grasshopper and a fly", Z. 481 (1686). [
     text verified 1 time
    ]

Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • HEB Hebrew (עברית) (Ehud Shapiro) , title 1: "צרצר ויתוש", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this page: Ehud Shapiro

This text was added to the website: 2014-01-25
Line count: 17
Word count: 100

צרצר ויתוש
Language: Hebrew (עברית)  after the English 
צרצר ויתוש, בקיץ חם ויבש, נפגשו בוויכוח לוהט על קדימות. אומר היתוש לצרצר: "מגזע אדיר נוצרתי, אפולו הבוהק היה אבי כידוע, ואני סועד ושותה עם מלך." אומר הצרצר ליתוש: "עדיין יש נוכלים שמסתדרים; ייתכן שאביך רב זכויות, אבל אמך סתם חתיכת חרא." לכן, ג'מיי סקוט, שהמריא למרומי האימפריה, אביו אולי אלוהים יודע מי, אבל אמו, אנו יודעים, זונה, זונה, זונה, זונה.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from English to Hebrew (עברית) copyright © 2014 by Ehud Shapiro, (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.
    Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in English by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2014-01-25
Line count: 17
Word count: 61

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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