La poulette orange
Rebecca wrote, "My Belgian father used to sing me a lullaby which went…"
La poulette orange
The Orange Chick
Berceuse
Lullaby
(French)
(English)
La poulette orange
Qui pond dans la grange
Elle va pondre un petit coco
Pour son petit
Qui va faire dodiche
Dodiche dodo.
La poulette grise
Qui pond dans l'eglise
Elle va pondre un petit coco
Pour son petit
Qui va faire dodiche
Dodiche dodo.
La poulette brune
Qui pond dans la lune
Elle va pondre un petit coco
Pour son petit
Qui va faire dodiche
Dodiche dodo.
The orange chick
Who lays eggs* in the barn
She will lay a little egg
For her little one
Who will go night-night**,
Nighty, night night.
The gray hen
Who lays eggs in the church
She will lay a little egg
For her little one
Who will go night-night,
Nighty, night night.
The brown hen
Who lays eggs on the moon
She will lay a little egg
For her little one
Who will go night-night,
Nighty, night night.
Notes
*Monique wrote, "She's laying eggs, it's all about laying eggs - but it's true that in French we don't need to mention 'eggs', it's implied in 'pondre' - you can only 'pondre' eggs, though it can be said pejoratively about babies when talking about parents/mothers who 'just gave birth' meaning they don't take much care of the children and the kids must raise themselves by themselves, let's put it this way. We say, 'Il s'agit pas de juste les pondre, il faut aussi les élever' (It's not just a matter of laying them, it's also necessary to raise them) - not classy but it means what it means.
Pondre can also mean to churn out an essay, a book, an article, etc..."
**Monique wrote, "'Dodiche' = dodo… -iche is a suffix used to form a diminutive. It can be belittling as in 'une bonne' (a maid, a servant) 'une bonniche' (= 'only' a servant) and often used colloquially…"
La bonne, la bonniche;
il est fort, c'est un fortiche/il est fortiche;
elle/il est godiche: s/he's clumsy.
Thanks and Acknowledgements
Thanks to Rebecca Tyndall for contributing this lullaby.
Translation: Mama Lisa and Tatie Monique.
Many thanks to Monique Palomares for the midi tune and commentary.
Merci beaucoup !
