J'ai fait une rencontre (AU1998-1075-019)

Dublin Core

Title

J'ai fait une rencontre (AU1998-1075-019)

Description

Excerpt from interview of Alberta Gagné (TC1998-1075-019) by Martha Pellerin. Part of a project (VFC1998-0007) on Franco-American song in New England funded by the Vermont Folklife Center and undertaken by Pellerin. Interview is one in a series of six conducted between 1995-01-09 and 1995-12-06 as an effort to document the French language song repertoire of Gagné.

“J'ai fait une rencontre” (“I Had an Encounter”) is one of the most ancient of French songs, a dialogue in which a young woman and man take turns imagining themselves metamorphosing into different creatures, the woman taking a new form to elude the young man, and he in turn transforming himself in order to pursue her new form. When the woman ultimately proposes taking the extreme step of choosing death and burial, her undeterred suitor proposes to transform into St. Peter and open the gates of heaven. This song appears in countless variants in Belgium, France, England, Catalonia, Greece, Italy, Moravia, Poland, Russia, and Romania and echoes the plot of a number of Greek myths, such as that of Apollo and Daphnaie. In North America, it has been documented in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland, Saskatchewan, Indiana, Louisiana, and Maine.

Abstract

I had an encounter, not long ago; I will go see my beloved Sunday. If you come Sunday, I will not be here; I will become a doe in a beautiful field, from me you will get no satisfaction. If you become a doe in a beautiful field, I will become a hunter and will hunt my beloved. If you become a hunter in order to hunt me, I will become an eel in a pond; from me, you will get no satisfaction. If you become an eel in a pond, I will become a fisherman and catch the heart of my beloved. If you become a fisherman to catch me, I will become a nun in a convent; from me you will get no satisfaction. If you become a nun in a convent, I will become a priest and preach, I will preach to the heart of my beloved. If you become a priest to preach to me, I will die and be buried; from me you will get no satisfaction. If you die and are buried, I will become St. Peter in heaven; I will open the gates for you, my beloved.

Source

VFC1998-0007 Martha Pellerin Collection. TC1998-1075 interview with Alberta Gagné. Vermont Folklife Center Archive, Vermont Folklife Center, Middlebury, Vermont, United States of America.

Date

1995-12-06

Rights

Copyright (c) Vermont Folklife Center

Relation

Full Interview: vfc1998-0005_tc1998-1075

Language

fra

Identifier

vfc1998-0007_tc1998-1075-001b-008

Song Item Type Metadata

Supplied Title

J'ai fait une rencontre (first line)

Standard Title Reference

Les métamorphoses, IV, Ma-07
Les métamorphoses, 01528

First Line

J'ai fait une rencontre

Transcription

[BEGIN SINGING]

 

J'ai fait t-une rencontre, il y a pas longtemps, [repeat]

J'irai la voir dimanche, dimanche, j'irai,

Oui, j'irai voir la belle, ma bien aimée.

 

Ah, si tu viens dimanche, n'y serai pas, [repeat]

Je me mettrai biche, dans un beau champ,

De moi, tu n'auras pas de contentement.

 

Si tu, tu te mets biche dans un beau champs, [repeat]

Je me ferai chasseur-e, j'irai chasser,

Je chasserai le cœur de ma bien aimée.

 

Si tu te mets chasseur-e, pour me chasser, [repeat]

Je me mettrai anguille dans un étang,

De moi, tu n'auras pas de contentement.

 

Si tu te mets anguille dans un étang, [repeat]

Je me mettrai pêcheur-e, j'irai pêcher

Je pêcherai le cœur de ma bien aimée.

 

Si tu te mets pêcheur-e pour me pêcher, [repeat]

Je me ferai sœur dans un couvent,

De moi, tu n'auras pas de contentement.

 

Si tu, tu te fais sœur dans un couvent, [repeat]

Je me ferai prêtre, j'irai prêcher

Je prêcherai le cœur de ma bien aimée.

 

Si tu te mets prêcheur-e pour me prêcher, [repeat]

Je me ferai morte, morte enterrée,

De moi, tu n'auras pas de contentement.

 

Si tu, tu te mets morte, morte enterrée, [repeat]

Je me mettrai St-Pierre, au paradis,

Je t'ouvrirai la porte, ma bien aimée.

 

[END SINGING]

 

Translation

dialogue, strophic, three-line verses, nine verses

Interviewer

Pellerin, Martha

Original Format

sound cassette (analog)

Files

vfc1998-0007_tc1998-1075-001b_008.mp3

Citation

“J'ai fait une rencontre (AU1998-1075-019),” Vermont Folklife Center Digital Collections, accessed December 26, 2024, https://vtfolklifearchive.org/collections/items/show/366.

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