Lingua Nostra › Provençal resources › Provençal songs › The Three Gossips

Provençal song

The Three Gossips

In Provençal: LES TRES COUMAIRES

Song no. 35 Damase Arbaud, 1862

Song no. 35 from the collection Chants populaires de la Provence by Damase Arbaud (1814-1876), published in 1862. Public domain. The text follows Arbaud's own spelling, which predates the Félibrige standard, and is reproduced unchanged.

Text

Se n'en sont tres coumairetos, Parloun de n'en fa 'n banquet, Lantiri li goudet, Parloun de n'en fa 'n banquet. Que pagaras-tu, coumaire, Seras de nouestre banquet ? Pagarai les uous, coumaire, Serai de vouestre banquet. lou pagarai la megino, Serai de vouestre banquet. N'en ant fach un' oumeleto Que n'avie noou pans d'espes. Tres coupos de vins van querrer, S'empegueroun toutes tres; (*) Uno toumbo sous la taulo, Et l'autro \ers la paret, L'autro n'en pren ses matinos Vai pregar à Sant Frances. . Dins lou temps que s sjoulino N'en lacho 0 quatr' ou cinq pets. (*) Lou remoun que n'en fagueroun Fagne. tourabar sant Frances. Lou cura di: pauro fremo, Beleou que n'en crebaretz. Lou clerzoun courr' es campanos Vai sounar per lou Lemps drech. Moun Diou ! s'aqueou temps duravo Restarie pa 'n aubre drech, Lantiri li goudet, Restarie pa 'n aubre drech.

English translation of the full text forthcoming.

Notes

A comic popular song about three gossiping women who organize a banquet paid for in eggs and fresh cheese, get drunk on wine, and end up in a burlesque scene punctuated by the nonsense refrain "Lantiri li goudet." The text is damaged in places by the scan, with uncertain passages flagged below.

Notable words

ProvençalFrench
coumairetospetites commères
meginofromage frais, caillé
oumeletoomelette
clerzounpetit clerc
crebaretzvous crèverez, vous mourrez

Glosses are given in French, as delivered by our lexicographic source; an English gloss is not yet available for these words.

Source: Damase Arbaud, Chants populaires de la Provence, 1862, song no. 35. Public domain. Digitization: https://archive.org/details/chantspopulaire00arbagoog. Transcription and formatting by Lingua Nostra.