The Jade Flute

Translations © by Grant Hicks

Song Cycle by Karel Goeyvaerts (1923 - 1993)

View original-language texts alone: La flûte de Jade

1. Invitation
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Venez ! Autour de ma de demeure chante un ruisseau 
qui est gai comme le printemps. 
Vous verrez peut-être des mouettes, si le vent se lève.
Comme je ne reçois jamais personne, 
je ne fais pas balayer les allées de mon jardin.
Vous marcherez sur un tapis de feuilles. 
Vous m'excuserez de vous offrir un déjeuner modeste.
Le marché est très éloigné. 
Croyez que je m'efforcerai de vous dire des choses agréables 
pour compenser la rusticité de ma table.
Vous hésitez ? Vous craignez de me déranger ? 
Nous allons boire quand même, boire ensemble...
et nous trinquerons par-dessus la haie.

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by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
1. Invitation
 (Sung text translation) See original
Language: English 
Come! Around my dwelling a stream sings
with the gaiety of springtime. 
You may see gulls if the wind comes up. 
As I never entertain,
I don't keep the paths in my garden swept. 
You'll be walking on a carpet of leaves. 
You'll forgive me if I offer you a modest lunch.
The market is so far away. 
Be assured that I will do my best to tell you pleasant things,
to make up for the rustic simplicity of my table.
Do you hesitate? Are you afraid of disturbing me?
We will drink anyway, drink together...
and clink glasses over the hedge.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (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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This text was added to the website: 2026-04-30
Line count: 13
Word count: 104

Translation © by Grant Hicks
2. Les Ruines de Sou‑Taï
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
Des arbustes ont poussé dans les ruines du palais.
A présent, la lune de Si-kiang est la seule danseuse
qui évolue dans les salles où glissaient tant de jolies femmes.

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by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
2. The Ruins of Sou-Taï
Language: English 
Bushes have sprung up in the ruins of the palace. 
At present, the moon of Si-kiang is the only dancer
that performs in the halls where so many pretty women used to glide.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (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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This text was added to the website: 2026-04-29
Line count: 3
Word count: 33

Translation © by Grant Hicks
3. Les trois princesses  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Au pays de Sim, trois princesses, 
jeunes et belles, 
sont assises sur une plage blanche.
Elles cherchent, du regard, une nef
qui les emmènerait, très loin,
au delà de l'horizon, 
vers une île qui doit exister,
où les femmes sont heureuses.
La mer est bleue.

Au pays de Sim, trois princesses,
qui ne sont plus jeunes et belles,
pleurent, debout, sur une plage blanche.
La mer est bleue.

Au pays de Sim, trois princesses,
vieilles et sans voix,
sont accroupies sur une plage blanche.
Elles jouent avec le sable et s’en inondent les cheveux,
croyant que les grains de sable sont des fleurs.
La mer est bleue.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade ; poésies chinoises, Paris : H. Piazza, 1926, page 113.


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
3. The Three Princesses
Language: English 
In the land of Sim, three princesses, 
young and beautiful, 
sit on a white beach. 
They are looking for a boat
that will take them far away, 
beyond the horizon, 
to an island that must exist, 
where women are happy. 
The sea is blue. 

In the land of Sim, three princesses, 
who are no longer young and beautiful, 
are standing on a white beach, crying. 
The sea is blue. 

In the land of Sim, three princesses, 
old and voiceless, 
crouch on a white beach. 
They play with the sand and drench their hair, 
believing that the grains of sand are flowers. 
The sea is blue.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (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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This text was added to the website: 2026-04-25
Line count: 19
Word count: 105

Translation © by Grant Hicks
4. Ma Robe  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Ma robe date d'une époque où vivait un roi de la dynastie des Tchinn.
Tant de jolies femmes l'ont mise, pour danser, 
que ses plis en gardent une sinuosité harmonieuse,
et tant de brises l'ont frôlée,
qu'elle est diaphane comme une aile de papillon.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade, Paris: H. Piazza, 1926, page 43.


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
4. My Robe
Language: English 
My robe comes from a time when there lived a king of the Chin dynasty. 
So many pretty women have worn it to dance in, 
that its folds retain a harmonious sinuosity, 
and so many breezes have brushed by it, 
that it is as diaphanous as a butterfly's wing.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (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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This text was added to the website: 2026-04-26
Line count: 5
Word count: 49

Translation © by Grant Hicks
5. Le pavillon de la musique  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Les musiciennes sont parties.
Tulipes qu'elles avaient mises dans les vases de jade
s'inclinent vers les luths et semblent écouter encore.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade; poésies chinoises, Piazza, 1926, p. 24.


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
5. The Music Pavilion
Language: English 
The musicians have gone away. 
Tulips that they had placed in vases of jade
bend towards the lutes and seem to listening still.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (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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This text was added to the website: 2026-04-17
Line count: 3
Word count: 23

Translation © by Grant Hicks
6. Le Pavillon des Parfums  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Si j'ouvrais ce flacon dans lequel repose un parfum illustre, 
son violent arome t'incommoderait.
Quand je te caresse, ô ma buire d'ambre, 
n'exhale pas tes pensées d'amour.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade, Paris: H. Piazza, 1922, page 26.


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
6. The Pavilion of Perfumes
Language: English 
If I were to open this vial containing a celebrated perfume, 
its strong odor would overwhelm you. 
When I caress you, O my jar of amber,
do not breathe forth your thoughts of love.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (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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This text was added to the website: 2026-04-30
Line count: 4
Word count: 34

Translation © by Grant Hicks
7. Le Pavillon de la Poésie  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Dans sa fenêtre, une branche de pêcher fleurie.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade, Paris : H. Piazza, 1922, p.27


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
7. The Pavilion of Poetry
Language: English 
In her window, the flowering branch of a peach tree.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (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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This text was added to the website: 2026-04-30
Line count: 1
Word count: 10

Translation © by Grant Hicks
8. La danseuse
 (Sung text)
Language: French (Français) 
La brise fait onduler les lotus
dont le parfum vient embaumer le palais
qui s’élève au milieu du lac.
Un peu ivre, Li-Si danse.
Tout à coup, chancelante,
elle s’appuie contre le lit de jade blanc.
Elle sourit.

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by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
8. The Dancing Girl
 (Sung text translation) See original
Language: English 
The breeze makes the lotuses sway
and their scent comes to perfume the palace
that rises in the middle of the lake.
A bit tipsy, Li-Si dances.
Staggering suddenly,
she leans against the bed of white jade.
She smiles.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (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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This text was added to the website: 2026-04-15
Line count: 7
Word count: 43

Translation © by Grant Hicks
9. Le dernier voyage  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Je vais faire un voyage, et je n'emporte pas mes pinceaux.
Je vais chercher la réponse qui n'est pas dans le chant du rossignol, 
dans le sourire de la femme, dans le parfum de la rose.
Je vous laisse mes poésies. 
Relisez-les quand le silence de l'univers vous obsèdera, 
quand vous frissonnerez d'inquiétude.
J'ai célébré le parfum de la rose, 
le sourire de la femme, le chant du rossignol, 
et je n'ai jamais tracé le caractère qui signifie la tristesse.
Un soir que vous regarderez la lune posée sur un amandier fleurie
donnez une pensée au poète dont la tristesse fut si grande 
qu'il s'en alla faire un voyage au pays d'où l'on ne revient pas.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade, Paris: H. Piazza, 1922, pages 151-152.


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
9. The Last Voyage
Language: English 
I am going on a voyage, and I am not taking my brushes. 
I am going in search of the answer that is not in the song of a nightingale,
the smile of a woman, the scent of a rose.
I leave you my verses. 
Reread them when the silence of the universe haunts you, 
when you tremble with anxiety. 
I've sung the praises of the scent of a rose,
the smile of a woman, the song of a nightingale,
and I have never drawn the character that stands for sadness. 
Some night, when you look at the moon resting on a flowering almond, 
spare a thought for the poet whose sadness was so great 
that he went on a voyage to the country from which there is no return.

Text Authorship:

  • Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2026 by Grant Hicks, (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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This text was added to the website: 2026-04-30
Line count: 12
Word count: 130

Translation © by Grant Hicks