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La Saumeta endemoniada
(The boisterous she-ass)
Nissart lyrics by Eugène Emanuel. Traditional from County of Nice.
| 1st verse |
Che mi trota en la cervela,
Cu troubla lo mieu repau ?
Es la musa che barsela,
Che mi fa lu sen diau ;
Côu montà su la saumeta
E courre coma pouden,
Attesà ’na cansoneta
Tout en fen semblan de rèn. | | What keeps running through my head,
Disturbing my rest?
It’s the Muse who is knocking,
Who makes me the “hundred devils”;
I have to ride the she-ass
And run as I can,
Inflating (1) a little song
While pretending to take no notice. |
2nd verse |
Una fes si lapidava
L’espousa che v’ha trompat ;
Su lo nas li si gitava
La rementa dou vallat.
Son d’usage, non l’ignori,
Ch’eroun buoi per d’autre ten.
Se n’en burson su l’avori,
Nautre fen semblan de ren. | | In the past, she was stoned to death
The spouse who was unfaithful to you;
On her nose was thrown
The filth of the ditch.
They are usages, I’m aware,
That were good for other times.
If they don’t give a damn,
We pretend to take no notice. |
3rd verse |
Au contrari emb’impudensa
L’adulteri ri d’achô.
Parlas onour o dessensa ?
Sies un rustre, un rocaco ;
La dameta emb’au sieu page
Promena publicamen.
Se si trova au sieu passage,
L’ome fa semblan de ren. | | On the contrary, with impudence,
The adultery laughs at that.
You speak about honour or decency?
You are a boor, old-fashioned;
The little woman with her page
Goes publicly for a walk.
If he is on her passage,
The man pretends to take no notice. |
4th verse |
La giustizia se non manda
Li balansa à stansia
Tout en fen la contrabanda
Se punisse cu la fà,
Se laissa passa ’n carossa
Lei voulur cour’ han d’argen,
Si courra grattà la cùossa
E faire semblan de ren. | | Justice, if she doesn’t throw away
The scales during the proceedings,
All of them are involved in smuggling
If she punishes the one who does,
If she lets pass in coaches
The thieves when they get money,
We will have to scratch our head
While pretending to take no notice. |
5th verse |
Se l’intriga, se la frauda
Han lo regard trionfant,
Se ves de viei tibauda
Voulé faire lu galant ;
Se sabes che ben de fia
Au premié ch’au en lu pen
S’embranconon li faudia
Vous côu fa semblan de ren. | | If the intrigue, if the fraud
Have triumphant eyes,
If you see old fogeys
Wanting to be gallant;
If you know that a good many girls
At first knock in their feet
Stumble [in] their skirts,
You have to pretend to take no notice. |
6th verse |
Una fes doussa e timida
L’espouseta dou gran pas
Doui semana era stourdida
E sourtia emb’ai uei bas,
L’endeman dôu mariage.
Anquei passa en sourien,
Ha perdut arma e bagage
E vous fa semblan de ren. | | In the past gentle and shy
The little spouse, with the great peace
Two weeks was dazed
And was getting out with downcast eyes
The day after the marriage.
Today, she passes with a smile,
She lost “weapons and luggage”
And pretends you to take no notice. |
7th verse |
Desperada de bestieta,
Don diable m’as menat ?
M’as fa sourti li luneta,
As sautà en lo semenat...
Se non vuos cessà pecaire
De troubla li pauri gen,
Mi foutrai en camba-’n-aire
E farai semblan de ren. | | Despair of creature,
Where the devil have you taken me?
You make me left my glasses,
You jumped into seedling...
If you don’t want to stop, well! well!
Disturbing poor people,
I will “get my leg over”
And I will pretend to take no notice. |
1. Attesà: in the literal sense means to tighten a rope, a string; to hold. In the figurative: to inflate, to claim, to professe. And also to give a ticket, to sentence rigorously.
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