Jean de la Lune
Jean de la Lune
John of the Moon
Chanson enfantine
Children's Song
(French)
(English)
Par une tiède nuit de printemps,
Il y a bien de cela cent ans
Que sous un brin de persil sans bruit
Tout menu naquit
Jean de la Lune, Jean de la Lune !
Il était gros comme un champignon
Frêle, délicat, petit mignon
Et jaune et vert comme un perroquet
Avait bon caquet,
Jean de la Lune, Jean de la Lune !
Pour canne, il avait un cure-dents
Clignait de l'œil, marchait en boitant
Et demeurait en toute saison
Dans un potiron
Jean de la Lune, Jean de la Lune !
On le voyait passer quelquefois
Dans un coupé grand comme une noix
Et que le long des sentiers fleuris
Trainaient deux souris
Jean de la Lune, Jean de la Lune !
Quand il se risquait à travers bois
De loin, de près, de tous les endroits
Merles, bouvreuils sur leur mirliton
Répétaient en rond
Jean de la Lune, Jean de la Lune !
Quand il mourut chacun le pleura
Dans son potiron on l'enterra
Et sur sa tombe l'on écrivit
Sur la croix ci-gît
Jean de la Lune, Jean de la Lune !
It happened on a nice warm Spring night
Some hundred years ago if I'm right
Under a parsley twig, quietly,
He was born, tiny,
John of the Moon, John of the Moon!
He was the size of a small mushroom
Delicate, cute like a rose in bloom
Yellow and green like a parrot,
He cackled a lot
John of the Moon, John of the Moon!
For a stick he used a toothpick
He winkled and limped and would do some trick
And during all seasons he would dwell
In a pumpkin shell
John of the Moon, John of the Moon!
You could sometimes see him passing by
In a carriage of a big nut size
That two mice towed all across the plain
Down the flowered lanes
John of the Moon, John of the Moon!
When he ventured through the woods without fear
From everywhere, from far and from near
Blackbirds, bullfinches on their reed pipes
All sang with delight
John of the Moon, John of the Moon!
When he died everyone mourned him
In his pumpkin they buried him
And upon his grave someone did write
On the cross, here lies
John of the Moon, John of the Moon!
Notes
Lyrics by Adrien Pagès to an older unknown tune. This song was first published in "Le Livre de Musique" by Claude Augé in 1896.
Thanks and Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Monique Palomares for contributing and translating this song, for the midi and the sheet music!
