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Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Arthur Justin Léon Leclère (1874 - 1966), as Tristan Klingsor
Translation © by Emily Ezust

Chat, chat, chat
Language: French (Français) 
Our translations:  ENG
   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.

About the headline (FAQ)

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

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: 115

Cat song
Language: English  after the French (Français) 
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,
    from the LiederNet Archive

    For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.
    licenses@email.lieder.example.net

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
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 21
Word count: 119

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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