I inquired, and I was told | I inquired, and I was told

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by Paul Heyse (1830 - 1914)

Translation © by Donna (Bareket) Breitzer

Ich ließ mir sagen und mir ward erzählt

Language: German (Deutsch) after the Italian - Venetian (dialect)

Our translations: CAT ENG FRE

Ich ließ mir sagen und mir ward erzählt,
Der schöne Toni hungre sich zu Tode;
Seit ihn so überaus die Liebe quält,
Nimmt er auf einen Backzahn sieben Brode.
Nach Tisch, damit er die Verdauung stählt
Verspeis't er eine Wurst und sieben Brode,
Und lindert nicht Tonina seine Pein,
Bricht nächstens Hungersnoth und Theurung ein.

About the headline (FAQ)

Note: Modern spelling would replace "Brode" with "Brote", etc.

Confirmed with Paul Heyse, Italienisches Liederbuch, Berlin: Verlag von Wilhelm Hertz (Bessersche Buchhandlung), 1860, page 82.

Text Authorship:

by Paul Heyse (1830 - 1914), no title, appears in Italienisches Liederbuch, in Venedig (Vilote), no. 44, first published 1860 [author's text checked 2 times against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in Italian - Venetian (dialect) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , "Me xe stà dito, e me xe stà contà", appears in Canti del popolo veneziano per la prima volta raccolti ed illustrati da Angelo Dalmedico, Venezia, A. Santini, first published 1848
- 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):

by Hugo Wolf (1860 - 1903), "Ich ließ mir sagen und mir ward erzählt", 1890-6, from Italienisches Liederbuch, no. 26 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2021, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Donna (Bareket) Breitzer) , "I inquired, and I was told", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this page: Alberto Pedrotti , Sharon Krebs [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2003-12-30
Line count: 8
Word count: 55

I inquired, and I was told

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

I inquired, and I was told,
That handsome Toni is starving himself to death;
Since love so exceedingly torments him,
He devours seven loaves for each molar.
After meals, to steel his digestion,
He consumes a sausage and seven loaves;
And if Tonina will not ease his pain,
Famine and starvation will soon set in.

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Donna (Bareket) Breitzer, (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: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Paul Heyse (1830 - 1914), no title, appears in Italienisches Liederbuch, in Venedig (Vilote), no. 44, first published 1860
- Go to the text page.

Based on:

a text in Italian - Venetian (dialect) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , "Me xe stà dito, e me xe stà contà", appears in Canti del popolo veneziano per la prima volta raccolti ed illustrati da Angelo Dalmedico, Venezia, A. Santini, first published 1848
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2003-12-30
Line count: 8
Word count: 55