by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
Translation by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
Le Serpent
Language: French (Français) after the Arabic (العربية)
Our translations: ENG
Elle était assise sur mes genoux, j'avais glissé ma main sous sa robe. D'une voix indifférente, je parlais des troupeaux, des chiens agiles, des pâturages. Ses jambes étaient lisses et fermes. Enfin, elle parut s'apercevoir que je la caressais. « Il y a un serpent sous ma robe ! dit-elle en riant. — Justement, lui ai-je répondu, je le cherche...
Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, Le Jardin des Caresses, 73e édition, Paris : L'édition d'art H. Piazza, 1921, p.48
Text Authorship:
- by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "Le Serpent", written 1911?, appears in Le jardin des caresses, no. 46, Paris, Éd. H. Piazza [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Arabic (العربية) by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Piero Coppola (1888 - 1971), "Le Serpent", published 1924 [ high voice and piano ], from Dix Poèmes Arabes extraits du Jardin des caresses de Franz Toussaint, no. 8, Paris, Éd. Ricordi [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "The Snake", copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Grant Hicks [Guest Editor] , Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2025-02-17
Line count: 8
Word count: 59