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by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 - 1898), as Lewis Carroll
Translation by Henri Bué (1843 - 1929)

They told me you had been to her
Language: English 
They told me you had been to her,
And mentioned me to him:
She gave me a good character,
But said I could not swim.

He sent them word I had not gone
(We know it to be true):
If she should push the matter on,
What would become of you?

I gave her one, they gave him two,
You gave us three or more;
They all returned from him to you,
Though they were mine before.

If I or she should chance to be
Involved in this affair,
He trusts to you to set them free,
Exactly as we were.

My notion was that you had been
(Before she had this fit)
An obstacle that came between
Him, and ourselves, and it.

Don't let him know she liked them best,
For this must ever be
A secret, kept from all the rest,
Between yourself and me.'

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 - 1898), as Lewis Carroll, no title, appears in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, London, Macmillan; chapter 12, first published 1865 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Liza Lehmann (1862 - 1918), "They Told Me You Had Been to Her", published 1908 [ soprano, contralto, tenor, and bass ], from Nonsense Songs: The Songs That Came Out Wrong, no. 8 [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • FRE French (Français) (Henri Bué) , no title


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2004-04-27
Line count: 24
Word count: 147

Ils prétendaient que vous aviez été à...
Language: French (Français)  after the English 
Ils prétendaient que vous aviez été à elle,
Et que de moi vous lui aviez parlé, à lui :
Elle a dit que j’avais un heureux caractère
Mais que je n’étais pas un nageur accompli.

Il leur écrivit que je restais en arrière
(Et nous n’ignorons pas que c’est la vérité) :
Si elle veut aller jusqu’au bout de l’affaire,
Je me demande ce qui pourra l’arrêter !

Je lui en donnai une, ils m’en donnèrent deux,
Vous, vous nous en donnâtes trois ou davantage ;
Mais toutes cependant leur revinrent, à eux,
Bien qu’on put contester l’équité du partage.

Si le malheur, demain, voulait qu’elle ou que moi
Nous fussions impliqués dans cette sombre affaire,
Vous devriez faire en sorte qu’on les libère
Comme nous fûmes, nous, libérés autrefois.

Mon point de vue était que vous constituiez
(Dés avant qu’elle n’eût cette attaque de nerfs)
Un obstacle fâcheux venu s’interposer
Entre nous et l’objet dont ces gens nous parlèrent.

Ne lui avouez pas, à lui, qu’elle les aime
Car tout ceci sans doute devait demeurer,
Du reste des humains à jamais ignoré,
Un secret : un secret entre vous et moi-même.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Henri Bué (1843 - 1929), no title [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in English by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 - 1898), as Lewis Carroll, no title, appears in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, London, Macmillan; chapter 12, first published 1865
    • Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

    [ None yet in the database ]


Researcher for this page: Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2016-04-12
Line count: 24
Word count: 187

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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