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Lu Pastourèu  
(The Shepherd Boys)
Traditional Christmas carol of Provençal origin.
| 1st verse |
Lu pastourèu
N’an fach un’ assemblada,
Lu pastourèu
N’an tengut lou burèu.
Aquì cadun n’a dit sa rastelada,
Tout es counclut, la paraula es donada
D’anà, d’anà vé lou pichoun qu’es nat ! | | The shepherd boys
Made a gathering,
The shepherd boys
Held the committee.
Here everyone said his “content of rake (1)”,
Everything is concluded, the word is given
To go, to go and see the child who is born. |
2nd verse |
Touteis ensen
Si son mes en viage,
Touteis ensen
Emb’un fouort marrit tems.
Es ben vèrou que li gent de mountagna
Son fach à tout, cregnon pas li magagna.
S’en van, s’en van e laisson sei cabana. | | All together
They get under way,
All together
With a very bad weather.
It’s really true that people from mountain
Become used to everything, they are not afraid of hardships.
They go, they go and leave their cabin. |
3rd verse |
Couma faren
Per noun sentì la bisa ?
Couma faren,
Ai pau que periren !
Toui seis abit son fach de tela grisa,
Son toui traucat, li vèon la camisa.
Lu trau, lu trau tenon pas gaire caut ! | | How will they do
To feel not the North wind?
How will they do,
I’m afraid they perish.
All their clothes are made of grey (rough) canvas,
They all get holed, it is seen their shirt.
Holes, holes aren’t really warm! |
4th verse |
Que frei que fa,
Ount es ma camihola ?
Que frei que fa,
Ai pena à caminà.
Senti dejà que la carn mi tremoula,
Senti dejà las, pouodi plus tirà sola ;
Lou frei, lou frei mi fa gelà lu det. | | How cold is the weather,
Where is my pea jacket?
How cold is the weather,
I have difficulty in walking.
I feel already my flesh trembling,
I feel already [myself] weary, I can’t anymore pull [the] sole;
The cold, the cold makes my fingers freeze. |
5th verse |
Nouostre pastras,
À tre ora sounada,
Nouostre pastras
Aribon dins lou jas.
Lou capèu bas e la testa courbada,
Plegon ginoui, saludon l’acouchada
E fan, e fan l’acoulada à l’enfant. | | Our shepherds,
At three o’clock gone,
Our shepherds,
Arrive in the shelter.
Their hat down and the head bent,
They kneel down, greet the new mother
And give, and give embrace to the child. |
6th verse |
Laisson au souòl
Doui o tre beu froumage,
Laisson au souòl
Quauqui douzena d’òu.
Jausé, Joseph li a dit : « Fagues que sigues sage,
Tourna-vous-en e fagues bouon viage.
Bergié, bergié, ècco vouostre congié ! » | | They leave on the ground
Two or three beautiful cheeses,
They leave on the ground
Some dozen of eggs.
Joseph said them: “Let do to be wise,
Go back and have a good journey.
Shepherds, shepherds, here is your leave!” |
1. Dire sa rastelada (“to say one’s content of rake”): to speak freely about all one knows regardind something.
| Bibliography | | • | Recueil des noëls composés en langue provençale (Collection of Christmas carols composed in Provençal language), reprint Fr. Seguin, printer and bookseller, Avignon, 1856, p. 33-35. | | • | 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. 213. | | • | revue Nice historique, Nice, n° 4, 1920, p. 75. |
See also The movies.
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© 2001-2024 Jean-Gabriel Maurandi.
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