by
Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
Le chat
Language: French (Français) after the Chinese (中文)
Il [a bondi]1 sur l'ombre d'une feuille
qu'il avait prise pour une souris.
A peine au sol, il se lèche une patte,
afin de tromper la feuille
qui sait peut-être discerner les erreurs.
View text without footnotes
Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade : poésies chinoises, Paris: H. Piazza, 1933, page 75.
1 Steenhuis: "va bondir"; further changes may exist not shown above.
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Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "The Cat", copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Grant Hicks
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website: 2026-05-23
Line count: 5
Word count: 34
The Cat
Language: English after the French (Français)
He [has pounced]1 on the shadow of a leaf
that he'd taken for a mouse.
Hardly touching the ground, he licks a paw,
so as to fool the leaf
which can perhaps recognize mistakes.
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1 Steenhuis: "is about to pounce"; further changes may exist not shown above.
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: 2026-05-23
Line count: 5
Word count: 35
