by
Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955)
Les trois princesses
Language: French (Français) after the Chinese (中文)
Au pays de Sim, trois princesses,
jeunes et belles,
sont assises sur une plage blanche.
Elles cherchent, du regard, une nef
qui les emmènerait, très loin,
au delà de l'horizon,
vers une île qui doit exister,
où les femmes sont heureuses.
La mer est bleue.
Au pays de Sim, trois princesses,
qui ne sont plus jeunes et belles,
pleurent, debout, sur une plage blanche.
La mer est bleue.
Au pays de Sim, trois princesses,
vieilles et sans voix,
sont accroupies sur une plage blanche.
Elles jouent avec le sable et s’en inondent les cheveux,
croyant que les grains de sable sont des fleurs.
La mer est bleue.
Confirmed with Franz Toussaint, La flûte de jade ; poésies chinoises, Paris : H. Piazza, 1926, page 113.
Text Authorship:
Based on:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Marguerite Canal (1890 - 1978), "Les trois princesses", 1922, published 1924 [ medium voice and piano ], from La flûte de jade, mélodies chinoises, no. 4, Paris, Éditions Musicales d'Art Maxime Jamin [sung text not yet checked]
- by Karel Goeyvaerts , "Les trois princesses", 1949 [ voice and piano ], from La flûte de Jade, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Grant Hicks) , "The Three Princesses", 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: 2024-11-16
Line count: 19
Word count: 107
The Three Princesses
Language: English after the French (Français)
In the land of Sim, three princesses,
young and beautiful,
sit on a white beach.
They are looking for a boat
that will take them far away,
beyond the horizon,
to an island that must exist,
where women are happy.
The sea is blue.
In the land of Sim, three princesses,
who are no longer young and beautiful,
are standing on a white beach, crying.
The sea is blue.
In the land of Sim, three princesses,
old and voiceless,
crouch on a white beach.
They play with the sand and drench their hair,
believing that the grains of sand are flowers.
The sea is blue.
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.
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Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Franz Toussaint (1879 - 1955), "Les trois princesses", appears in La flûte de jade, Paris, Éd. H. Piazza, first published 1920
Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2026-04-25
Line count: 19
Word count: 105
