This is a very well-known song with a catchy chorus that people enjoy
singing. The story is set in a rustic France
whose way of life was characterised by joie de vivre and in British eyes with a
lot of harmless naughtiness.
Cat lovers
need consoling that it is only a made-up story.
Brave
Margot
Margoton
la jeune bergère
Trouvant
dans l'herbe un petit chat
Qui
venait de perdre sa mère
L'adopta
Elle
entrouvre sa collerette(1)
Et le
couche contre son sein
C'était tout
c' qu'elle avait, pauvrette,
Comm'
coussin
Le chat
la prenant pour sa mère
Se mit à
téter tout de go(2)
Émue,
Margot le laissa faire
Brav'
Margot
Un
croquant passant à la ronde(3)
Trouvant le
tableau(4) peu commun
S'en alla
le dire à tout l' monde
Et le
lendemain
(Chorus)
Quand
Margot dégrafait son corsage
Pour
donner la gougoutte(5) à son chat
Tous les
gars, tous les gars du village
Étaient
là, la la la la la la
Étaient
là, la la la la la
Et Margot
qu'était simple et très sage
Présumait
qu' c'était pour voir son chat
Qu'tous
les gars, qu'tous les gars du village
Étaient
là, la la la la la la
Étaient
là, la la la la la
L' maître
d'école et ses potaches
Le mair',
le bedeau, le bougnat(6)
Négligeaient
carrément leur tâche
Pour voir
ça
Le
facteur d'ordinair' si preste(7)
Pour voir
ça, ne distribuait plus
Les
lettres que personne au reste
N'aurait
lues
Pour voir
ça, Dieu le leur pardonne,
Les
enfants de chœur au milieu
Du saint
sacrifice(8) abandonnent
Le saint
lieu
Les
gendarmes, mêm' les gendarmes
Qui sont
par natur' si ballots(9)
Se
laissaient toucher par les charmes
Du joli
tableau
Chorus
Quand
Margot dégrafait son corsage
Pour
donner la gougoutte(3) à son chat
Tous les
gars, tous les gars du village
Étaient
là, la la la la la la
Étaient
là, la la la la la
Et Margot
qu'était simple et très sage
Présumait
qu' c'était pour voir son chat
Qu'tous
les gars, qu'tous les gars du village
Étaient
là, la la la la la la
Étaient
là, la la la la la
Mais les
autr’s femm’s de la commune
Privées
d’leurs époux, d’leurs galants,
Accumulèrent
la rancune
Patiemment…
Puis un
jour, ivres de colère(10),
Elles
s’armèrent de bâtons
Et,
farouches, elles immolèrent(11)
Le
chaton…
La
bergère, après bien des larmes
Pour
s’consoler prit un mari
Et ne
dévoila plus ses charmes
Que pour
lui…
Le temps
passa sur les mémoires,
On oublia
l’événement,
Seuls des
vieux racontent encore
À leurs
p’tits enfants…
(Chorus)
Quand
Margot dégrafait son corsage
Pour
donner la gougoutte(3) à son chat
Tous les
gars, tous les gars du village
Étaient
là, la la la la la la
Étaient
là, la la la la la
Et Margot
qu'était simple et très sage
Présumait
qu' c'était pour voir son chat
Qu'tous
les gars, qu'tous les gars du village
Étaient
là, la la la la la la
Étaient
là, la la la la la
(1954 –
(Les amoureux des bancs publics 2).
|
Kind-hearted
Margot
Li’l Margot
the young shepherdess
Finding in the
grass a small cat
Which had got
lost from his mother
Adopted him
She half opens
her dress collar
And lays him
up against her breast
It was all
that she’d got, poor girl,
For a pillow.
The cat,
thinking her his mother
Started to
suckle straight away
Thrilled,
Margot let him carry on
Kind Margot
An oafish man
walking around
Finding the
tableau unusual
Went to tell
everyone the tale
And the day
after
(Chorus)
When Margot
was undoing her blouse
To give her
cat its drop of milk
All of the
lads of the village,
Were out
there, la la la la la la
Were out
there, la la la la la
And Margot, a
simple, very good girl Presumed it was to see her cat
That all the
lads of the village,
Were there, la
la la la la la
Were there, la
la la la la
The school
teacher and his pupils
The mayor, the
beadle, the coalman
Flagrantly
neglected their work
To see this.
The postman,
normally so prompt
To see this,
stopped delivering
The mail that,
besides, no-body
Would have
read.
To see this,
may God forgive them,
The altar boys
right at the height
Of the Holy
Sacrifice sneak off
From God’s
house.
The gendarmes,
even the gendarmes,
Who are, by
nature, so cumbrous
Let themselves
be touched by the charms
O’the pretty
tableau.
(Chorus)
When Margot
was undoing her blouse
To give her
cat its drop of milk
All of the
lads of the village,
Were out
there, la la la la la la
Were out
there, la la la la la
And Margot, a simple,
very good girl Presumed it was to see her cat
That all the
lads of the village,
Were there, la
la la la la la
Were there, la
la la la la
But the other
women of the district
Deprived of
husbands or boyfriends,
Built up their
resentment
Patiently …
Then one day,
vicious with anger,
They armed
themselves with staves
And
ferociously slayed
The small cat
…
The
shepherdess, after much weeping,
So to console
herself, got wed
And ne’er
again revealed her charms
But for him …
Time passed
over the memories;
The happenings
were forgotten;
Just some old
men still tell the tale
To their
grandchildren …
(Chorus)
When Margot
was undoing her blouse
To give her
cat its drop of milk
All of the
lads of the village,
Were out
there, la la la la la la
Were out
there, la la la la la
And Margot, a
simple, very good girl Presumed it was to see her cat
That all the
lads of the village,
Were
there, la la la la la la
Were
there, la la la la la
|
Translation Notes
1) Collerette- Larousse tells us that
this is a little round collar, often pleated, made of fine linen
2) Le chat se
mit à téter tout de go. This fact gives us a problem. If the young shepherdess has milk in her
breasts, she must be a nursing mother and we find out later that she was not
then married. From this it would appear
that she is not so “sage” in the French sense ( not such a good girl) and
perhaps not so young.
On the other hand it is important for the poem that the shepherdess is
young and innocent. Perhaps the answer
is that Brassens is being very relaxed about human biology for the sake of his
tale.
3) A la
ronde= around - for example « à
des kilomètres à la ronde » translates as
« for miles around »
4) Le tableau : We would normally
translate the word « tableau » as “picture” and this would be
acceptable here, but its meaning in
French is also “theatrical scene” and the French word is used in English. The dictionary defines “ tableau » in
English as: “an arrangement of people who do not move or speak, especially on a stage, who represent a view of life, an event, etc.”.
5) Le bougnat – Larousse tells us that
this word refers to a coal merchant.
6) La gougoutte : is baby talk for
« la goutte » - the drop (of water etc).
7) Preste – Robert translates this as
“nimble”. It describes speed of movement
and as an interjection “preste!” means “hurry up!” I suppose that is why British magicians say
“Hey presto!”
8) Au milieu du saint sacrifice – thus
at the climax of the mass.
9) Ballot : in correct speech this means parcel/
package. Robert says that this is a noun
in familiar speech meaning “nitwit”. The
basic idea seems to be heavy and plodding of movement. The idea of policemen
being like a parcel seems to link with the policeman image in the children’s
story, where he is “Mr Plod – the policeman”.
10) Ivres de colère – the most common
translation for « ivre » is drunk/ intoxicated but it also means in
the grip of extreme passions hence: ivre de joie= wild with joy, ivre de sang=
thirsting for blood.
11) Larousse tells us that immoler is to
offer an animal or a human being as a sacrifice/to put to death/massacre.
This Russian version of the song by the talented Alexandre Avanessov has
some charming and amusing illustrations
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