by
Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
Petite fête
Language: French (Français) after the Chinese (中文)
Je prends un flacon de vin,
et je vais le boire parmi les fleurs.
Nous sommes toujours trois,
en comptant mon ombre et mon amie la lune brillante.
Heureusement que la lune ne sait pas boire
et que mon ombre n'a jamais soif !
Quand je chante, la lune m'écoute en silence.
Quand je danse, mon ombre danse aussi.
Après tout festin, les convives se séparent.
Je ne connais pas cette tristesse.
Lorsque je regagne ma demeure,
la lune m'accompagne et mon ombre me suit.
Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade : poésies chinoises, Paris: H. Piazza, 1920, pages 40-41.
Text Authorship:
Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) by Li-Tai-Po (701 - 762) [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 Pierre, Baron de Maurice (1868 - 1936), "Petite fête", op. 36 no. 7 (1925-1926), published [1927] [ voice and piano ], from La flûte de jade: Sept Poésies chinoises traduites par Franz Toussaint, no. 7, London, Oxford University Press [sung text not yet checked]
- by Manuel M. Ponce (1883 - 1948), "Petite fête", 1931, first performed 1934 [ voice and piano ], from Cinco poemas chinos, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Rewi Allen , "Alone and Drinking Under the Moon" ; composed by John Peterson.
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Hans Ebert.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "A Little Party", copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust
[Administrator] , Grant Hicks
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website: 2010-08-29
Line count: 12
Word count: 84
A Little Party
Language: English after the French (Français)
I take a flask of wine,
and I go to drink it among the flowers.
There are always three of us,
counting my shadow and my friend the bright moon.
Happily the moon cannot drink
and my shadow is never thirsty.
When I sing, the moon listens in silence.
When I dance, my shadow dances too.
After any banquet, the guests go their separate ways.
I do not know this sadness.
When I return home,
the moon comes with me and my shadow follows me.
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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "Petite fête"
Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) by Li-Tai-Po (701 - 762) [text unavailable]
This text was added to the website: 2026-04-16
Line count: 12
Word count: 85
