L'anguila | La Jeanne Houhou, la tan amable

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by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire

Translation © by Salvador Pila

L'Anguille

Language: French (Français)

Our translations: CAT ENG

Jeanne Houhou la très gentille 
Est morte entre des draps très blancs
Pas seule Bébert dit l'Anguille
Narcisse et Hubert le merlan
Près d'elle faisaient leur manille

Et la crâneuse de Clichy
Aux rouges yeux de dégueulade
Répète "Mon eau de Vichy"
Va dans le panier à salade
Haha sans faire de chichi

Les yeux dansant comme des anges
Elle riait, elle riait
Les yeux très bleus les dents très blanches
Si vous saviez, si vous saviez
Tout ce que nous ferons dimanche.

Text Authorship:

by Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire, "L'Anguille", written 1914, appears in Il y a, Paris, Éd. Messein, first published 1925 [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 Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963), "L'Anguille", FP 58 no. 1 (1931) [ high voice and piano ], from Quatre Poèmes de Guillaume Apollinaire, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "L'anguila", copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Laura Stanfield Prichard) , "The eel", subtitle: "A waltz-musette, meant to be played on the accordion", 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: 15
Word count: 83

L'anguila

Language: Catalan (Català) after the French (Français)

La Jeanne Houhou, la tan amable
Va morir entre llençols molt blancs
No estava sola: en Bébert, conegut com ”l'Anguila”
En Narcisse i en Hubert, el perruquer
Eren al seu costat jugant a la manilla

I la presumida de Clichy
Amb els seus ulls rogencs de vomitar
No para de repetir: «La meva aigua de Vichy»
S'endinsa al furgó de la policia
Haha, sense fer gens de soroll

Els seus ulls dansant com àngels
Ella reia, ella reia
Els seus ulls tan blaus, les seves dents tan blanques
Si sabéssiu, si sabéssiu
Tot el que farem diumenge.

Text Authorship:

Translation from French (Français) to Catalan (Català) copyright © 2026 by Salvador Pila, (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 Wilhelm Albert Włodzimierz Apolinary Kostrowicki (1880 - 1918), as Guillaume Apollinaire, "L'Anguille", written 1914, appears in Il y a, Paris, Éd. Messein, first published 1925
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2026-05-23
Line count: 15
Word count: 97