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C'était une souris qui venait d'Angleterre, Yes, Madame, yes, my dear, Ell' s'était embarquée au port de Manchester Sans même savoir où s'en allait le navire. No, Madam', no, my dear. Elle avait la dent long' comme une vieille Anglaise, S'enroulait dans un plaid à la mode écossaise Et portait une coiffe en dentelle irlandaise. Dans le port de Calais, elle mit pied à terre, Yes, Madame, yes, my dear, Elle s'en fut bien vite à l'hôtel d'Angleterre, Et grimpe l'escalier tout droit sans rien leur dire, No, Madam', no, my dear, Le grenier de l'hôtel lui fut un vrai palace, La souris britannique avait là tout sur place, Du whisky, du bacon, du gin, de la mélasse. Chaque soir notre miss faisait la ribouldingue, Yes, Madame, yes, my dear, C'était toute la nuit des gigues des bastringues, Les bourgeois de Calais ne pouvaient plus dormir, No, Madam', no, my dear, En vain l'on remplaçait l'appât des souricières, Le Suiss' par le Holland', le Bri' par le Gruyère, Rien n'y fit, lorsqu'un soir on y mit du Chester. C'était une souris qui venait d'Angleterre, Yes, Madame, yes, my dear.
Authorship
- by Michel Veber (1896 - 1965), as Nino [author's text not yet checked 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 Manuel Rosenthal (1904 - 2003), "La souris d'Angleterre", 1934, from Chansons du Monsieur Bleu, no. 9. [ sung text verified 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English [singable] (Peter Low) , "The English mouse", copyright © 2001, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "The English mouse", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 26
Word count: 189
There once was a mouse that came from England, Yes, Madam, yes, my dear, She had embarked at the Port of Manchester Without even knowing where the ship was sailing. No, Madam, no, my dear. She had high standards like an old English lady, Wrapped up in a Scottish plaid blanket And wearing an Irish lace headress. At the Port of Calais, she disembarked, Yes, Madam, yes, my dear, She went quickly over to the Hotel d'Angleterre, And climbed straight up the stairs without speaking to anyone, No, Madam, no, my dear, The attic of the hotel was truly a palace, The British mouse had everything laid out just so, Some whisky, some bacon, some gin, some molasses candy. Every night our little miss threw a party Yes, Madam, yes, my dear, All night there were jigs and honty tonk songs, The citizens of Calais could not get to sleep, No, Madam, no, my dear, In vain, they replaced the cheese on the mousetraps, From Swiss to Dutch, from Brie to Gruyère, Nothing worked, until one night they tried some [English] Cheddar. There once was a mouse that came from England, Yes, Madam, yes, my dear.
Authorship
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2016 by Laura Prichard, (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.
Contact:
- a text in French (Français) by Michel Veber (1896 - 1965), as Nino
This text was added to the website: 2016-04-14
Line count: 26
Word count: 196