Dors, dors, p'tit bébé
Dejah sent us this song with the note: "This is called 'Dors, dors' and is a very old berceuse (lullaby) from the Acadians. It contains a few very archaic French words that were preserved in the Acadian French dialect (not so much in everyday speech) such as 'j'irons' (we/I'll go). In French Canada we say 'p'tit' instead of 'petit' and grand-père is pronounced 'gran-PEAR'. Here are the words…"
Dors, dors, p'tit bébé
Sleep, My Little One
Berceuse
Lullaby
(French)
(English)
Dors, dors, p'tit bébé
C'est le beau p'tit bébé à maman
Dors, dors, dors, dors
Dors, dors, p'tit bébé à maman.
Demain s'il fait beau,
J'irons au grand-père
Dors, dors, p'tit bébé
Dors, dors, dors, dors
Dors, dors, p'tit bébé à maman.
Sleep, my little one
Sleep, little beautiful baby of mine
Sleep, sleep
Little baby of mine.
Tomorrow, if it's nice
We'll see your grandpa
Sleep, sleep, little one
Sleep, sleep
Little baby of mine.
Notes
In the line, "C'est le beau p'tit bébé à maman", the "à" in Québec French sounds like the standard French sound "au".
The line, "J'irons au grand-père" would normally be "nous irons voir/chez grand-père" in standard French.
Many thanks to Dejah Leger for sharing her lovely recording of Dors, dors, p'tit bébé! Check out her Hand Sewn Lullabies cd and mp3 downloads on CD Baby.
Thanks and Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Dejah Leger for contributing and translating this song.
Image: Berthe Morizot
Merci beaucoup!
