Saturday 8 August 2020

Brave Margot - A heart-breaking tale of a shepherdess, who adopts a lost kitten

 

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 characterized 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 speakespecially 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.