Jade Flute

Translations © by Grant Hicks

Song Cycle by Marie Marjori Hajary (1921 - 2017)

View original-language texts alone: Flûte de jade

1. La Fidélité  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Deux hirondelles, et deux hirondelles... 
Toujours, les hirondelles volent par couple. 
Qu'elles aperçoivent une tour de jade ou un pavillon de laque, 
elles ne s'y perchent jamais l'une sans l'autre. 
Qu'elles aperçoivent une balustrade de marbre ou une fenêtre dorée, 
elles ne se séparent point. 

Il y avait deux hirondelles... 
Quand prit feu la poutre de cèdre qui abritait leur nid, 
elles se réfugièrent dans le palais du roi d'Ou, 
mais le palais du roi d'Ou brûla, 
et le mâle et les petits brûlèrent aussi. 
A son retour, la femelle contempla les ruines du palais. 

Cette histoire m'attriste infiniment.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade : poésies chinoises, Paris: H. Piazza, 1926, pages 13-14.


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
1. Faithfulness
Language: English 
Two swallows, and two swallows... 
Swallows always fly in pairs. 
Whether they catch sight of a jade tower or a lacquered pavilion, 
they never perch there one without the other. 
Whether they catch sight of a marble balustrade or a gilded window, 
they do not part.

There were two swallows... 
When the cedar beam that supported their nest caught fire, 
they took refuge in the palace of the King of Ou, 
but the palace of the King of Ou burned, 
and the male and the young burned as well. 
Upon her return, the female surveyed the ruins of the palace. 

This story saddens me infinitely.

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: 13
Word count: 105

Translation © by Grant Hicks
2. Le départ du poulet  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Notre petit domestique attache les pattes
d'un poulet qu'il va emporter au marché.
Le poulet se débat et crie.
Mon père le regarde, impitoyable.
Ma mère a détourné la tête. 
Un moineau, dans l'arbre, se trémousse d'aise,
car il y aura plus de grain pour lui.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade : poésies chinoises, Paris: H. Piazza, 1922, page 114.


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
2. The Chicken's Departure
Language: English 
Our young servant ties the feet
of a chicken he will be taking to market. 
The chicken struggles and cries out. 
My father gazes at it pitilessly. 
My mother has looked away. 
A sparrow in the tree wriggles with joy,
because there will be more grain for it.

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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Translations of titles:
"Le départ du poulet" = "The Chicken's Departure"
"Le poulet" = "The Chicken"


This text was added to the website: 2026-04-16
Line count: 7
Word count: 48

Translation © by Grant Hicks
3. Un Jour de Printemps  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Puisque la vie est décevante comme un rêve,
pourquoi se tourmenter ?
Je préfère m'enivrer jusqu'à tomber.

C'est ce que j'ai encore fait, hier.
A mon réveil, j'ai regardé autour de moi.
Un oiseau gazouillait parmi les fleurs.
Je l'ai prié de me renseigner sur la saison,
et il m'a répondu que nous étions à l'époque
où le printemps fait chanter les oiseaux.

Comme j'étais près de m'attendrir, 
je me suis encore versé à boire,
j'ai chanté jusqu'au lever de la lune,
et j'ai, de nouveau, perdu la notion des choses.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade : poésies chinoises, Paris: H. Piazza, 1920, pages 103-104.


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
3. A Spring Day
Language: English 
Since life is as deceitful as a dream,
why torture yourself?
I'd rather get falling-down drunk.

That 's what I did again, yesterday.
When I came to, I looked all around me 
A bird was chattering among the flowers.
I begged him to tell me the season,
and he answered that it was the time 
when Spring makes the birds sing.

As I was moved nearly to tears,
I poured myself another drink,
I sang until the moon rose,
and I once more lost track of things.

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: 13
Word count: 87

Translation © by Grant Hicks
4. Li‑'Si  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Dans les jardins du palais,
la brise caresse les jeunes fleurs des lotus.
Etendu parmi les coussins de soie qui diaprent la terrasse,
l'Empereur se repose.
Li-Si, la belle favorite, danse,
plus légère que la première écharpe de brume,
plus brillante que la première étoile.
Elle vient de se coucher près du souverain.
Ses paupières battent, ses hanches ondulent.
Maintenant, elle baisse les yeux sous le regard impérial.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade : poésies chinoises, Paris: H. Piazza, 1920, pages 99-100.


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
4. Li-Si
Language: English 
In the palace gardens,
the breeze caresses the blooming lotus flowers. 
Stretched out among the silken cushions that bespeckle the terrace, 
the Emperor takes his rest. 
Li-Si, his beautiful mistress, dances, 
lighter than the first ribbon of mist, 
brighter than the first star. 
She has just lain down next to her sovereign.
She bats her eyelids, she sways her hips. 
Now, she lowers her eyes under the imperial gaze.

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: 10
Word count: 69

Translation © by Grant Hicks
5. Pluie de printemps  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: French (Français) 
Elle est venue ranimer les jardins,
la bonne petite pluie qui sait toujours quand la nature a besoin d'elle.
Discrète, appliquée, silencieuse, elle a mouillé toutes choses, finement.

Hier soir, des nuages avaient envahi le ciel. L'obscurité était effrayante.
Comme d’immenses yeux de fauves, les fanals des barques luisaient.

Ce matin, dans une pure lumière, éclatent les couleurs du jardin bien lavé.
Je contemple ses fleurs, qui me font évoquer le parc impérial
où je me promenais, jadis.

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade ; poésies chinoises, Paris : Piazza, 1926, p.107


by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
5. Spring Rain
Language: English 
It came to revive the gardens,
the good little rain that always knows when nature has need of it.
Discreet, industrious, silent, it delicately moistened everything.

Last night, clouds had invaded the sky. The darkness was frightening.
The lamps of the boats shone like the huge eyes of wild animals.

This morning, the colors of the well-washed garden are gleaming in the clear light.
I contemplate its flowers, which remind me of the imperial park
where once I used to walk.

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: 2026-04-13
Line count: 8
Word count: 81

Translation © by Grant Hicks