These who go through the woods
are the mother and the daughter.
These who go through the woods
are the mother and the daughter.
The mother goes singing
and the daughter's sighing.
The mother goes singing
and the daughter's sighing.
" What makes you sigh so,
Marguerite, my daughter?"
" So much wrath inside me,
yet I hardly dare to tell :
a girl during the day,
I'm a white doe at night.
A girl during the day,
I'm a white doe at night.
The hunt is on my trail,
the barons and the princes,
and Renaud, my brother,
he's the worst of them all.
Let him halt his dogs
until tomorrow's dinner1
" Where are your dogs, Renaud,
and the gentlemen of your hunt? "
" They are inside the woods,
hunting the white doe "
" Stop them, Renaud.
Stop them, I'm begging you! "
He called them three times
blowing his copper horn.
The third time the horn rang,
the doe was taken.
The one who skinned her
said " I'm at a loss for words.
She has blond hair
and the breast of a girl "
He drew his knife
and cut her to pieces.
They made a dinner
for the barons and the princes.
They made a dinner
for the barons and the princes:
" we are all gathered here
except for my sister Marguerite "
" You can start eating,
I was the first to be seated.
My head is in the dish,
and my heart hangs from a hook "
" My blood is splattered
all across the kitchen,
and my poor bones are sizzling
on your dark charcoal "
These who go through the woods
are the mother and the daughter.
These who go through the woods
are the mother and the daughter.
1. she sings "jusqu'à demain ressie", "ressie" being an ancient word for "dinner"