by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
Translation by Edward Rehatsek (1819 - 1891)
La lampe
Language: French (Français) after the Persian (Farsi)
Une certaine nuit, mon ami pénétra dans ma demeure. Je me [levai]1 avec une telle promptitude, que ma lampe tomba. Mon ami m’accabla de reproches, disant : — Pourquoi, dès que tu m’as aperçu, as-tu éteint la lampe ? Je répondis : — J’ai cru que le soleil s’était levé … J’ai vu en songe celui dont la beauté illuminerait la nuit la plus obscure. À mon réveil, j’ai pensé : « D’où me vient ce bonheur ? » Si un fâcheux se place devant [ta]2 lampe, bondis et tue-le ! Mais si, au contraire, le nouveau venu a des lèvres de miel et un sourire aussi doux que le sucre, saisis-le par le bras et éteins la lampe.
View original text (without footnotes)
1 K. Sorabji: "levais"
2 K. Sorabji: "la"
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
1 K. Sorabji: "levais"
2 K. Sorabji: "la"
Text Authorship:
- by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "La lampe", appears in Gulistan. Le jardin des roses, Paris, Éd. Arthème Fayard, first published 1913 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Persian (Farsi) by Abū-Muḥammad Muṣliḥ al-Dīn bin Abdallāh Shīrāzī (c1210 - c1292) [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 Kaikhosru Sorabji (1892 - 1988), "La lampe", KSS 42 no. 1 (1926), published 1991, first performed 1999 [ male voice and piano ], from Trois poèmes du “Gulistān” de Saʿdī, no. 1, Bath, The Sorabji Archive [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Charles Hopkins) , "The lamp", written 1995, copyright © 1995, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Edward Rehatsek) , first published by the Kama Shastra Society, first published 1888
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2018-08-28
Line count: 15
Word count: 115
I remember that one night a dear friend...
Language: English after the French (Français)
I remember that one night a dear friend of mine entered when I jumped up in such a heedless way that the lamp was extinguished by my sleeve. A vision appeared in the night and by its appearance the darkness was illuminated. I was amazed at my luck exclaiming whence this felicity? He took a seat and began reproving me saying that when I beheld him I extinguished the lamp. I said: “I thought the sun had risen and wits have said: When an ugly person comes before the lamp Arise to him and pull him into the assembly But if it be a sugar-smiled, sweet-lipped one Pull him by the sleeve and extinguish the lamp.”
About the headline (FAQ)
Note: this is a prose selection. Line breaks have been added to match up to some lines in the original.
Text Authorship:
- by Edward Rehatsek (1819 - 1891), first published by the Kama Shastra Society, first published 1888 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "La lampe", appears in Gulistan. Le jardin des roses, Paris, Éd. Arthème Fayard, first published 1913
Based on:
- a text in Persian (Farsi) by Abū-Muḥammad Muṣliḥ al-Dīn bin Abdallāh Shīrāzī (c1210 - c1292) [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):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2019-05-29
Line count: 10
Word count: 116