La guerre de 14-18 [English translation]

Since mankind has written history,

since they fought with joyful heart,

between a thousand and one famous wars,

If I was obliged to make a choice,

unlike old Homer

I would declare straight away:

“Me, my friend, the one I prefer,

it's the war of fourteen-eighteen1!”

“Me, colonel, the one I prefer,

it's the war of fourteen-eighteen!”

Does that mean that I care nothing

for the noble wars of olden times,

that I don’t give a fig

for the war of 18702?

Not at all, I respect it

and I give it a pass mark,

but, my friend, the one I prefer,

it's the war of fourteen-eighteen

But, my friend, the one I prefer,

it's the war of fourteen-eighteen!

I know that the Spartan warriors

knew where to stick their swords3,

that Napoleon’s old soldiers

didn’t fire at sparrows...

their military exploits are lengendary,

standing at attention, I salute them,

but, my friend, the one I prefer,

it's the war of fourteen-eighteen!

But, my friend, the one I prefer,

it's the war of fourteen-eighteen!

Of course, the one of 1940

didn’t totally disappoint me,

it was long and killed hordes

and I don’t hold it in contempt,

but to me, it isn’t worth

any more than a first pass,

me, my friend, the one I prefer

is the war of fourteen-eighteen!

Me, my friend, the one I prefer

is the war of fourteen-eighteen!

I don’t want to pick a fight

with guerillas, by golly! No,

holy wars, hidden wars

that don’t dare to speak their name,

each one has some aspect that pleases,

each has its own minor virtue,

but, my friend, the one I prefer

is the war of fourteen-eighteen!

But, my friend, the one I prefer

is the war of fourteen-eighteen!

From the depths of his bag of nastiness

Mars will doubtless, some day,

get one of them – a real delight ! –

which will impress me very much...

In the meantime, I’ll continue

to say that my favourite war,

the one, my friend, that I'd like to fight

is the war of fourteen-eighteen!

1. In case anyone doesn’t recognise the dates, that’s the first world war, 1914-19182. The Franco-Prusian war, which the French thoroughly lost (but gained some repuation for bravery against the odds)3. lit: didn't plant their swords in water