Nau palometas au bòi van
This is a Gascon "song of nine". A "song of nine" is a song that starts with 9 items on the first verse then the number of items decreases with each verse till it reaches 1. There's usually no "4" because in Gascon "quate" has two syllables.
The translation is singable (in English you can even say "4"!). You'll find the literal translation in the Notes.
Nau palometas au bòi van
Nine Little Doves to the Woods Go
Folk Song
Folk Song
(Occitan)
(English)
Nau palometas au bòi van
Nau palometas au bòi van,
Nau palometas au bòi van,
Nau palometas au bòi van,
L'ua darrèr, l'auta davant,
La mei jòlia,
La que jo tieni per la man,
En s(e)ra m'ei mia.
Uèit palometas au bòi van
Uèit palometas au bòi van
Uèit palometas au bòi van
Uèit palometas au bòi van
L'ua darrèr, l'auta davant,
La mei jòlia,
La que jo tieni per la man,
En s(e)ra m'ei mia.
Sèt palometas... (sheis…, cinq…, tres…, duas…)
Nine little doves to the woods go
Nine little doves to the woods go,
Nine little doves to the woods go,
Nine little doves to the woods go,
Following each other in a row
The finest and smart
Whose hand I hold, oh how I glow!
Will be my sweetheart.
Eight little doves to the woods go
Eight little doves to the woods go
Eight little doves to the woods go
Eight little doves to the woods go,
Following each other in a row.
The finest and smart,
Whose hand I hold, oh how I glow
Will be my sweetheart.
Seven little doves... (six…, five…, three…, two…)
Notes
Literal Translation:
Nine little doves go to the wood…
One at the back, the other at the front,
The prettiest
The one I hold by the hand
Will be my sweetheart.
Thanks!
Thanks and Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Jean-Jacques Casteret from the CIRDOC (Occitan Institute of Culture) for providing the lyrics of this song.
Translation and illustration by Monique Palomares.
