Pénélope
Georges Brassens| Original | English translation / Traduzione inglese / Traduction anglaise... |
| PÉNÉLOPE | Penelope |
| Toi l’épouse modèle, Le grillon du foyer, Toi qui n’as point d’accrocs Dans ta robe de mariée, Toi l’intraitable Pénélope, En suivant ton petit Bonhomme de bonheur, Ne berces-tu jamais, En tout bien tout honneur, De jolies pensées interlopes, De jolies pensées interlopes. | You, the model wife, the cricket of the hearth, [1] you, without any snag or tear in your marriage gown, you, the uncompromising Penelope, [2] When following the lead of your pleasant but absent husband, don’t you ever, in all honesty, nurse some pretty thoughts that somehow sneak in, some pretty thoughts that somehow sneak in? |
| Derrière tes rideaux, Dans ton juste milieu, En attendant le retour D’un Ulysse de banlieue, Penchée sur tes travaux de toile, Les soirs de vague à l’âme Et de mélancolie, N’as-tu jamais en rêve, Au ciel d’un autre lit, Compté de nouvelles étoiles, Compté de nouvelles étoiles. | Behind your curtains, in your oh so proper world, awaiting the return of a suburban Ulysses, [3] leaning over your needlework, on melancholy evenings of doom and gloom. have you never, in dreams of the sky above another bed, counted some new stars, counted some new stars? |
| N’as-tu jamais encore Appelé de tes vœux L’amourette qui passe, Qui vous prend aux cheveux, Qui vous compte des bagatelles, Qui met la marguerite Au jardin potager, La pomme défendue Aux branches du verger Et le désordre à vos dentelles, Et le désordre à vos dentelles. | Have you never yet called out to the passing object of your wishes, who takes you by the hair, who tells you nothing much, who puts the daisy [4] into the kitchen garden, [5] puts the forbidden apple onto the tree branches, and puts your lace clothing into disorder, and puts your lace clothing into disorder. |
| N’as-tu jamais souhaité De revoir en chemin Cet ange, ce démon, Qui, son arc à la main, Décoche des flèches malignes, Qui rend leur chair de femme Aux plus froides statues, Les bascule de leur socle, Bouscule leur vertu, Arrache leur feuille de vigne, Arrache leur feuille de vigne. | Have you never hoped to see again in passing that angel, that demon, who, his bow in his hand, fires malignant arrows, who gives their female flesh back to the coldest statues, topples them from their pedestals, shakes up their virtue, tears their off fig leaves, [6] tears their off fig leaves? |
| N’aie crainte que le ciel Ne t’en tienne rigueur, Il n’y a vraiment pas là De quoi fouetter un cœur Qui bat la campagne et galope, C’est la faute commune Et le péché véniel, C’est la face cachée De la lune de miel Et la rançon de Pénélope, Et la rançon de Pénélope. | Don’t be afraid that Heaven will hold it against you, there’s truly nothing there for which to lash a heart [7] that’s taken in by bad arguments and goes wild! It’s a common fault and a venial sin, it’s the hidden side of the honeymoon, and the ransome for Penelope, and the ransome for Penelope. |
[2] In Greek myth, Penelope was the wife of Odysseus, who remained faithful to him during his absence for the Trojan war and a very long journey back home from Troy
[3] The Latin name for Odysseus
[4] Symbol of love
[5] Symbol of domesticity
[6] Literally:”grape” not “fig”
[7] The stock phrase “there’s nothing for which to lash a cat” means “it’s something too trivial to make a fuss about", and the change from “cat” to “heart” essentially keeps that meaning