by Marie de France ( flourished 1160-1215 )
Translation by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
The Wife and her Lover
Language: English  after the French (Français)
A peasant, one day, was watching: His eye to the keyhole, was spying. Now, what did he catch sight of on his bed? His wife... and another man! As he said “alas, what did I see?”, Suddenly, his wife appeared at his side: ‘And what did you see, husband dear?’ ‘What? Another man, I’ll have you know, On the bed, wrapped in your arms!” She burst out angrily: Oh ho, not again, You’re as stupid as the day I met you! Oh ho, not again, You’re bonkers if you think everything you see is the truth Madame led him by the hand To a tank of water, full to the brim And ordered him to look at it, asking him What he saw there. Well, of course, he said he could see his own image. ‘And yet, of course, you are not Under the water fully dressed, Whatever appearances might suggest! You mustn’t have confidence In your eyes which so often lie.’ And he said, ‘I’m sorry. Everyone must believe absolutely In what his wife tells him to be true, Not what we see with our misleading eyes, Those masters of folly and error.’ By this example you can clearly see That having a crafty mind Is more useful to many people Than all their morals and upbringing.
Text Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Marie de France ( flourished 1160-1215 ) [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Janet Oates (b. 1970), "The Wife and her Lover", 2022, copyright © 2022 [ soprano, recorder and theorbo ]
Score: Janet Oates [external link]  [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2026-08-23
Line count: 34
Word count: 218