by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
Translation © by Grant Hicks

La jeune fille nue
Language: French (Français)  after the Chinese (中文) 
Our translations:  ENG GER
Pour aller retrouver son fiancé, 
sous le grand saule qui est au bord du fleuve,
elle avait mis ses deux plus belles robes.

Lorsque le soleil commença de décliner,
ils causaient encore, tendrement.
Tout à coup, elle se leva, honteuse,
parce qu'elle n'avait plus sa troisième robe :
l'ombre du saule.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

•   H. Badings 

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Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade : poésies chinoises, Paris: H. Piazza, 1920, page 86.


Text Authorship:

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Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Grant Hicks [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2003-11-06
Line count: 8
Word count: 51

The Naked Girl
NOTE: the footnotes have been removed from this text; return to general view
Language: English  after the French (Français) 
To go to meet her betrothed, 
beneath the large willow at the river's edge, 
she had worn her two finest robes. 

When the sun began to set, 
they were still conversing tenderly.
Suddenly, she stood up, ashamed 
because she no longer had her third robe:
the shade of the willow.

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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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Based on:

Based on:

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This text was added to the website: 2026-04-07
Line count: 8
Word count: 51