More Les Miserables: Gavroche's Song
I need some help. I have just run into a portion of Les Miserables where I don't trust the translation. For context, Gavroche is supposed to be singing incendiary songs.
This is the translation, copied as it is in my version of the book:
The bird slanders in the elms
And pretends that yesterday
Atala went off with a Russian,
Where fair maids go. Lon la.
My friend Pierrot, thou pratest, because Mila knocked at her pane the other day and called me. The jades are very charming, their poison which bewitched me would intoxicate Monsieur Orfila. I'm fond of love and its bickerings, I love Agnes, I love Pamela, Lise burned herself in setting me aflame. Informer days when I saw the mantillas of Suzette and of Zeila, my soul mingled with their folds. Love, when thou gleamest in the dark thou crownest Lola with roses, I would lose my soul for that. Jeanne, at thy mirror thou deckest thyself! One fine day, my heart flew forth. I think that it is Jeanne who has it. At night, when I come from the quadrilles, I show Stella to the stars, and I say to them: "Behold her." Where fair maids go, lon la.
And this is the song itself. (I hope I have the accents in all the right places.)
L'oiseau médit dans les charmilles,
Et prétend qu'hier
Atala avec un Russe s'en alla.
Où vont les belle filles,
Lon la.
Mon ami Perrot, tu babilles,
Parce que l'autre jour Mila
Cogne sa vitre et m'appela,
Où vont les belle filles,
Lon la.
Les drôlesses sont fort gentilles,
Leur poison qui m'ensorcela
Griserait Monsieur Orfila.
Où vont les belle filles,
Lon la.
J'aime l'amour et les bisbilles,
J'aime Agnés, j'aime Pamela,
Lise m'allumant se brûla.
Où vont les belle filles,
Lon la.
Jadis, quand je vis les mantilles
De Suzette et de Zeila,
Mon âme à leurs plis se mêla,
Où vont les belle filles,
Lon la.
Amour, quand dans l'ombre où tu brilles,
Tu coiffes de roses Lola,
Je me damnerais pour cela,
Où vont les belle filles,
Lon la.
Jeanne à ton miroir tu t'habilles!
Mon coeur un beau jour s'envola.
Je crois que c'est Jeanne qui l'a.
Où vont les belle filles,
Lon la.
Le soir, en sortant des quadrilles,
Je montre aux étoiles Stella,
Et je leur dis: "Regardez-la."
Où vont les belle filles,
Lon la.
Now, I'm sure that I'm missing something, but what's so incendiary about singing about all these women? The song doesn't sound inflammatory. What's the problem? And what's a better translation? Because the one I have sounds like nonsense--the bird slanders in the elms, indeed!
This is the translation, copied as it is in my version of the book:
The bird slanders in the elms
And pretends that yesterday
Atala went off with a Russian,
Where fair maids go. Lon la.
My friend Pierrot, thou pratest, because Mila knocked at her pane the other day and called me. The jades are very charming, their poison which bewitched me would intoxicate Monsieur Orfila. I'm fond of love and its bickerings, I love Agnes, I love Pamela, Lise burned herself in setting me aflame. Informer days when I saw the mantillas of Suzette and of Zeila, my soul mingled with their folds. Love, when thou gleamest in the dark thou crownest Lola with roses, I would lose my soul for that. Jeanne, at thy mirror thou deckest thyself! One fine day, my heart flew forth. I think that it is Jeanne who has it. At night, when I come from the quadrilles, I show Stella to the stars, and I say to them: "Behold her." Where fair maids go, lon la.
And this is the song itself. (I hope I have the accents in all the right places.)
L'oiseau médit dans les charmilles,
Et prétend qu'hier
Atala avec un Russe s'en alla.
Où vont les belle filles,
Lon la.
Mon ami Perrot, tu babilles,
Parce que l'autre jour Mila
Cogne sa vitre et m'appela,
Où vont les belle filles,
Lon la.
Les drôlesses sont fort gentilles,
Leur poison qui m'ensorcela
Griserait Monsieur Orfila.
Où vont les belle filles,
Lon la.
J'aime l'amour et les bisbilles,
J'aime Agnés, j'aime Pamela,
Lise m'allumant se brûla.
Où vont les belle filles,
Lon la.
Jadis, quand je vis les mantilles
De Suzette et de Zeila,
Mon âme à leurs plis se mêla,
Où vont les belle filles,
Lon la.
Amour, quand dans l'ombre où tu brilles,
Tu coiffes de roses Lola,
Je me damnerais pour cela,
Où vont les belle filles,
Lon la.
Jeanne à ton miroir tu t'habilles!
Mon coeur un beau jour s'envola.
Je crois que c'est Jeanne qui l'a.
Où vont les belle filles,
Lon la.
Le soir, en sortant des quadrilles,
Je montre aux étoiles Stella,
Et je leur dis: "Regardez-la."
Où vont les belle filles,
Lon la.
Now, I'm sure that I'm missing something, but what's so incendiary about singing about all these women? The song doesn't sound inflammatory. What's the problem? And what's a better translation? Because the one I have sounds like nonsense--the bird slanders in the elms, indeed!