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Chat, chat, chat, Chat noir, chat blanc, chat gris, Charmant chat couché, Chat, chat, chat N'entends-tu pas les souris Danser à trois les entrechats Sur le plancher? Le bourgeois ronfle dans son lit De son bonnet de coton coiffé Et la lune regarde à la vitre: Dansez souris, dansez jolies, Dansez vite, En remuant vos fines queues de fées. Dansez sans musique tout à votre aise À pas menus et drus Au clair de la lune qui vient de se lever, Courez: les sergents de ville dans la rue Font les cent pas sur le pavé Et tous les chats du vieux Paris Dorment sur leur chaise, Chats blancs, chats noirs, ou chats gris.
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Text Authorship:
- by Arthur Justin Léon Leclère (1874 - 1966), as Tristan Klingsor, "Chanson du chat qui dort", written 1900-1903, appears in Le valet de cœur: poèmes, in 7. Chansons à la française, no. 9, Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France [author's text not yet checked 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 Jean Absil (1893 - 1974), "Chanson du chat", op. 45 no. 1 (1940) [ medium voice and piano ], from Trois Poèmes de Tristan Klingsor, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by José André (1881 - 1944), "Chanson du chat qui dort", 1928 [ voice and piano ], from Mélodies et chansons, no. 8 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Chat, chat, chat", 2011 [ medium voice and piano ], from Deux Chansons, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Arthur Justin Léon Leclère (1874 - 1966), as Tristan Klingsor, "Chanson du chat qui dort" [ medium voice and piano ], from Chansons de ma mère l'Oie, no. 2, Éd. Rouart - Lerolle [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Cat song", copyright ©
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 21
Word count: 114
Cat, cat, chat, black cat, white cat, gray cat, charming, reclining cat - cat, cat, cat, do you not hear the mice dancing and weaving in threes on the floor? The burgher is snoring in his bed beneath a cap of cotton, and the moon is gazing through the window: dance, my mice - dance, my pretty mice, dance quickly, flicking your fine, magical tails. Dance without music, completely at ease, to the sound of your light steps; in the light of the moon that has just risen, run! the soldiers of the village in the street are marching about the town; and all the cats of old Paris are asleep in their chairs: white cats, black cats, or gray cats.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust
Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:
Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
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Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Arthur Justin Léon Leclère (1874 - 1966), as Tristan Klingsor, "Chanson du chat qui dort", written 1900-1903, appears in Le valet de cœur: poèmes, in 7. Chansons à la française, no. 9, Paris, Éd. du Mercure de France
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 21
Word count: 119