Le kérioklépte
Language: French (Français) after the Greek (Ελληνικά)
Une [méchante]1 abeille piqua une fois Eros
qui volait le rayon de miel d'une ruche;
et elle le piqua au bout des doigts.
Eros souffrit, et il souffla sur ses doigts,
frappa du pied, sauta, et montrant à Aphrodita sa blessure,
se plaignit que l'abeille, une si petite bête,
fit de telles blessures. Et la mère rit:
"N'est-tu pas semblable aux abeilles? Tu es petit,
mais quelles profondes blessures ne fais-tu pas?"
Available sung texts: (what is this?)
• A. Roussel View original text (without footnotes)
1 Roussel: "cruelle"
Text Authorship:
Based on:
- a text in Greek (Ελληνικά) by Theocritus (c310 BCE - c250 BCE), "Κηριολεπτησ"
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in English, a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist [an adaptation] ; composed by Henry Purcell.
- Also set in English, a translation by Andrew Lang (1844 - 1912) , "Idyl XIX", appears in Theocritus, Bion and Moschus ; composed by Granville Ransome Bantock, Sir.
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by Pierre de Ronsard (1524 - 1585) , "L'Amour piqué par une abeille", appears in Odes de 1550, no. 16, Livre IV, first published 1550 [an adaptation] ; composed by Fabrice-Marin Caietain, Jean Chardavoine, Julien Tiersot.
- Also set in French (Français), [adaptation] ; composed by Gérard Condé, Charles Camille Saint-Saëns.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Garrett Medlock) , "The wax thief (?)", copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust
[Administrator] , Garrett Medlock
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website: 2009-02-09
Line count: 9
Word count: 73
The wax thief (?)
Language: English after the French (Français)
A nasty bee once stung Eros
who was stealing [a] honeycomb from a beehive;
and it stung him on the tip of his fingers.
Eros was in pain, and he blew on his fingers,
stamped [his] feet, jumped up, and, showing Aphrodite his wound,
complained that the bee, such a small creature,
[had] caused such injuries. And the mother laughed:
“Are you not akin to the bees? You are small,
but can you not cause [such] deep wounds?”
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © 2020 by Garrett Medlock, (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:
Based on:
- a text in Greek (Ελληνικά) by Theocritus (c310 BCE - c250 BCE), "Κηριολεπτησ"
This text was added to the website: 2020-04-04
Line count: 9
Word count: 78
