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La Blea  
(The Swiss Chard)
Tune Qu es gromant es pas feniant (Who is fond of food isn’t lazy).
Nissart lyrics by François Barberis. Traditional from County of Nice.
| 1st verse |
Coura lu Grec pleguèron vela
Souta dòu nouostre bèu castèu,
Junoun que regna su li stella
D’encara’n pòu pihà la pèu.
De l’allegressa,
La gran deessa
En li faudiha li si fà.
Va, sabatea
Embè l’idea
D’ouffri ai dièu un gran dinà.
E que fenisse per pourtà ?
Un plèn pairòu de blea (three times). | | When the Greeks (1) folded the sails
Beneath our beautiful castle,
Juno (2) who reigns over the stars
Could have getting drunk.
By elation,
The great goddess
In her skirts is wetting herself.
She goes, she bums around (3)
With the idea
To offer the gods a great dinner.
And what does she finally bring?
A full cauldron of Swiss chard (three times). |
2nd verse |
Lou lendeman d’aquela festa,
Lou gran budèu de Jupiter,
Tra d’escourrença e de tempesta,
Foute un bousin dòu tron de l’er (4).
Couola, taulissa,
Tout aco pissa,
En un moument ti vèn Païoun.
Lou ciel lampea,
Trona, petea,
Laisse-mi courre vers maioun !
Sembla pas ver que fin damoun
Li fà bouon proun la blea (three times). | | The day after this party,
The big Jupiter’s gut,
Between diarrhea and storm,
Makes a racket like thunder.
Hills, roofs,
All of this is gushing,
In a moment comes Paillon.
The sky [throws] lightnings,
Thunders, goes off,
Let me run to my house!
It doesn’t seem to be true that in heaven above
The Swiss chard benefits him (three times). |
3rd verse |
Nissa recèu de la natura
Tanti favour e tantu doun
E tant-tout-un, encar’ ahura,
La blea pouorta lou poumpoun.
Planta cherida,
Douna la vida
En li raiola, en lou farsun.
Si fricoutea
E si boulea
En mile plat, en mil’ emplun.
Se voulès regalà quauqun,
Fè-li manjà de blea ! (three times) | | Nice received from nature
Such favors and such gifts
And anyway, right now,
The Swiss chard hits the jackpot.
Beloved plant,
It gives life
To raviolis, to stuffing.
It can be cooked up (5)
And stirred
In thousand dishes, in thousand uses.
If you want to treat somebody to a delicious meal,
Let him eat Swiss chard! (three times) |
1. The Phocaeans (Greeks from Asia Minor) set up a trading post in Nice.
2. Junoun: Juno, Jupiter’s wife, Roman goddess of Femininity and Matrimony, assimilated to Hera in Greek mythology.
3. Sabateà: to run buming around.
4. In his Dictionnaire français-niçois, Georges Castellana gives the variant: Fa de remoun dòu tron de l’er (Makes noise like thunder).
5. Fricouteà: to cook up stewed.
| Bibliography | | • | Bessi (Jules), Biographie ancienne et moderne des poètes niçois, Nice, 1894. | | • | Delrieu (Georges), Anthologie de la chanson niçoise (Anthology of the Song from Nice), Nice, publisher Delrieu & Co, 1960, p. 138-139. | | • | Tosan (Albert), Princivalle (Gaël) and d’Hulster (Frédéric), Anthologie de la chanson du comté de Nice (Anthology of the Song from County of Nice), Nice, Serre publisher, series “Encyclopædia niciensis – Patrimoine régional”, volume III, 2001, p. 52. | | • | revue Armanac niçart, Nice, 1904, p. 17-18. |
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