Originale | Versione inglese di Riccardo Venturi
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LE GRAND COUREUR | THE PRIVATEER "GRAND COUREUR" |
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Le corsaire Le Grand Coureur | The privateer Grand Coureur |
Est un navire de malheur | Is a poor, unlucky ship, |
Quand il s'en va croisière | When she sets out so bold |
Pour aller chasser l'Anglais | To chase the English at sea |
Le vent, la mer et la guerre | Alas! The wind, sea and war |
Tournent contre le Français. | Turn their back to the French. |
Allons les gars gai, gai | Come on, boys, come on! |
Allons les gars gaiement! | Come on, boys, stay merry! |
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Il est parti de Lorient | She sailed out from Lorient |
Avec mer belle et bon vent | With still sea, and fair winds |
Il cinglait babord amure | That drove her from larboard |
Naviguant comme un poisson | Making her sail like a fish. |
Un grain tombe sur sa mâture | But there it comes a storm |
v'la le corsaire en ponton. | And, alas! She's made a wreck. |
Allons les gars gai, gai | Come on, boys, come on! |
Allons les gars gaiement | Come on, boys, stay merry! |
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Il nous fallut remater | All the masts had we to mend |
Et bougrement relinguer | Working hard like negro slaves, |
Tandis que l'ouvrage avance | And as work is still going on |
On signale par tribord | Someone calls from starboard. |
Un navire d'apparence | Here comes a ship boarding, |
A mantelets de sabords. | And she's full of cannonguns. |
Allons les gars gai, gai | Come on, boys, come on! |
Allons les gars gaiement! | Come on, boys, stay merry! |
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C'était un Anglais vraiment | It was just an English ship |
A double rangée de dents | showing her two rows of guns. |
Un marchand de mort subite | Looked like a true deathmonger, |
Mais le Français n'a pas peur | but the French do not fear her. |
Au lieu de brasser en fuite | So, instead of taking flight, |
Nous le rangeons à l'honneur. | we'll engage in the fight. |
Allons les gars gai, gai | Come on, boys, come on! |
Allons les gars gaiement! | Come on, boys, stay merry! |
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Les boulets pleuvent sur nous | The balls flying o'er our heads, |
Nous lui rendons coups pour coups | we repaid 'em one by one, |
Pendant que la barbe en fume | our brave sailormen's beards |
A nos braves matelots | are steaming in the great toil! |
Dans un gros bouchon de brume | Then the English ship it sneaks |
Il nous échappe aussitôt. | in a fog bank and disappears. |
Allons les gars gai, gai | Come on, boys, come on! |
Allons les gars gaiement! | Come on, boys, stay merry! |
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Nos prises au bout de six mois | Here's what we picked up |
Ont pu se monter à trois | in six months roving at sea: |
Un navir' plein de patates | a ship loaded with potatoes |
Plus qu'à moitié chaviré | just half-wrecked, as you see, |
Un deuxième de savates | and another carrying slippers, |
Et le dernier de fumier. | and the last loaded with dung. |
Allons les gars gai, gai | Come on, boys, come on! |
Allons les gars gaiement | Come on, boys, stay merry! |
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Pour nous refaire des combats | To recover from the fight |
Nous avions à nos repas | We got a nice meal indeed: |
Des gourganes, du lard rance | A slop, rancid lard in slices, |
Du vinaigre au lieu du vin | Sour vinegar instead of wine, |
Du biscuit pourri d'avance | Mouldy biscuits gone long since, |
Et du camphre le matin. | Camphor brandy for breakfast. |
Allons les gars gai, gai | Come on, boys, come on! |
Allons les gars gaiement | Come on, boys, stay merry! |
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Pour finir ce triste sort | To get rid of our bad fate |
Nous venons périr au port | We're drawing to the port |
Dans cette affreuse misère | To put an end to disgraces |
Quand chacun c'est vu perdu | By death, seeing how it'll end. |
Chacun selon sa manière | Everyone of us is trying |
S'est sauvé comme il a pu. | to reach safety his own way! |
Allons les gars gai, gai | Come on, boys, come on! |
Allons les gars gaiement! | Come on, boys, stay merry! |
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Le cap'taine et son second | The captain and his adjutant |
S'ont sauvé sur un canon | Clinging to a floating gun, |
Le maître sur la grande ancre | The boatswain to the big anchor, |
Le commis dans un bidon | The storekeeper to a barrel, |
Ah le sacré vilain cancre | That bloody old motherfucker! |
Le voleur de rations. | He always stole our allowance. |
Allons les gars gai, gai | Come on, boys, come on! |
Allons les gars gaiement! | Come on, boys, stay merry! |
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Il eût fallu voir le coq | Behold now the ship's cook |
Et sa cuisine et son croc | With his kitchen and his hooks, |
Il s'est mis dans un' chaudière | How he's hidden in a big pot |
Comme un vilain pot au feu | just like stale bread soup, |
Il est parti vent arrière | sailing away with the wind |
attérit au feu de Dieu. | as if pursued by the hell fire. |
Allons les gars gai, gai | Come on, boys, come on! |
Allons les gars gaiement! | Come on, boys, stay merry! |
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De notre horrible malheur | All our bad luck, I tell ye, |
Seul le calfat est l'auteur | is the caulker's fault, you see: |
En tombant de la grand'hune | he fell down from the maintop |
Dessus le gaillard d'avant | on to th' slippery stemdeck, |
A rebondi dans la cambuse | bounced back down the caboose |
A crevé le bâtiment. | and the girders he did break. |
Allons les gars gai, gai | Come on, boys, come on! |
Allons les gars gaiement! | Come on, boys, stay merry! |
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Si l'histoire du Grand Coureur | If the story of Grand Coureur |
A su vous toucher le cœur | your heart it did move to weep |
Ayez donc belles manières | be so kind as to repay us |
Et payez-nous largement | by your gratefulness so deep! |
Du vin, du rack, de la bière | Give us wine, brandy and beer |
Et nous serons tous contents. | and we'll drink your health to keep! |
Allons les gars gai, gai | Come on, boys, come on! |
Allons les gars gaiement! | Come on, boys, stay merry! |