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Je suis aimée des petits enfants; dès qu'ils me voient, ils courent à moi, et s'accrochent à ma tunique et prennent mes jambes dans leurs petits bras. S'ils ont cueilli des fleurs, ils me les donnent toutes ; s'ils ont pris un scarabée ils le mettent dans ma main; s'ils n'ont rien ils me caressent et me font asseoir devant eux. Alors ils m'embrassent sur la joue, ils posent leurs têtes sur mes seins ; ils me supplient avec les yeux. Je sais bien ce que cela veut dire. Cela veut dire: "Bilitis chérie, [dis-nous]1, car nous sommes gentils, l'histoire du héros Perseus ou la mort de la petite Hellé."
1 Debussy: "redis-nous"
Text Authorship:
- by Pierre-Félix Louis (1870 - 1925), as Pierre Louÿs, "Les contes", appears in Les Chansons de Bilitis, in Bucoliques en Pamphylie, no. 18 [author's text checked 1 time 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 Jeanne Bernard (1895 - 1965), "Les contes" [ voice and piano ], from Trois chansons de Bilitis, no. 2, Paris, Senart [sung text not yet checked]
- by André-Marie Cuvelier , "Les contes", 1935 [ voice and piano ], from Chansons de Bilitis, 2ème recueil, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Georges Dandelot (1895 - 1975), "Les contes", published 1924 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Georges Dandelot (1895 - 1975), "Les contes", 1924, published 1929, first performed 1929 [ high voice and piano ], from Six Chansons de Bilitis, 1er recueil, no. 2, Paris, Éd. Max Eschig [sung text not yet checked]
- by Claude Achille Debussy (1862 - 1918), "Les contes", L. 102/(96) no. 3, from Chansons de Bilitis, no. 3, note: incidental music to accompany the recitation of twelve prose poems. [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Marvin J. Ward) , "The tales", copyright © 2003, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , "Geschichten", copyright © 2013, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Marvin J. Ward
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 15
Word count: 110
Bei kleinen Kindern bin ich gern gesehn; sobald sie mich erspähen, eilen sie zu mir; sie klammern sich an mein Gewand, und ihre kleinen Arme schlingen sich um meine Beine. All die gepflückten Blumen schenken sie mir, und den erhaschten Käfer setzen sie mir in die Hand; wenn sie denn keine Gaben haben, kosen sie mich, bitten mich, ich möge mich zu ihnen setzen. Dann geben sie mir Küsse auf die Wangen, legen den Kopf mir in den Schoß; inbrünstig blicken sie mich an. Ich weiß, was dies bedeuten soll. Es heißt: " Bilitis, liebe, sing uns doch - wir sind ganz brav - Geschichten von Perséus, dem Heroen, und von der kleinen Helle Tod."
Text Authorship:
- Translation from French (Français) to German (Deutsch) copyright © 2013 by Bertram Kottmann, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you must ask the copyright-holder(s) directly for permission. If you receive no response, you must consider it a refusal.
Bertram Kottmann. Contact: BKottmann (AT) t-online.de
If you wish to commission a new translation, please contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in French (Français) by Pierre-Félix Louis (1870 - 1925), as Pierre Louÿs, "Les contes", appears in Les Chansons de Bilitis, in Bucoliques en Pamphylie, no. 18
This text was added to the website: 2013-03-28
Line count: 15
Word count: 113