All French-speaking children know this march-song.
Un kilomètre à pied ça use, ça use,
Un kilomètre à pied ça use les souliers.
Deux kilomètres à pied ça use, ça use,
Deux kilomètres à pied ça use les souliers… etc.
One kilometer on foot wears out, wears out,
One kilometer on foot wears out your shoes for good.
Two kilometers on foot, wears out, wears out,
Two kilometers on foot, wears out your shoes for good… etc.
Comments
Lucie Lasseel sent us a more complete version:
Un kilomètre à pied, ça use, ça use
Un kilomètre à pied, ça use les souliers.
La peinture à l'huile c'est bien difficile
mais c'est bien plus beau
que la peinture à l'eau
Deux kilomètres à pied etc....
English Translation
One kilometer on foot wears out, wears out,
One kilometer on foot wears out your shoes for good.
Oil painting's not easy it would drive you crazy*
But it is more fine than watercolor lines.
*Literally:
Oil painting is very difficult
But it's more beautiful
Than watercolor painting.
*****
Harald Meilicke wrote, "I know a variant that goes on, instead of the verse 'la peinture a l'huile', like this:
Le café trop sucré donne la colique
Le café trop sucré donne mal aux pieds
(Coffee too sweetened gives a stomachache
Coffee too sweetened makes the feet hurt.)
However, it must be a different melody than la peinture a l'huile, whose melody I don't know."
Thanks and Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Florence Godineau for contributing this song. Many thanks also to Lucie Lasseel for completing the song. Thanks to Harald Meilicke for the alternate ending. Thanks to Melisa Roche for the drawing!
MP3: Monique Palomares
Merci beaucoup!
