Les Deux Ménétriers [English translation]

On black horses with no bits,

nor saddles nor stirrups,

through the domain of the dead

go two white musicians.

They ride at a hellish galop,

while scraping at their fiddles

with iron bows,

having strings of hair.

At the thunder of the hard hooves,

at the bright sound of the violins,

the dead come out of the tombs.

Let's danse and caper.

And the joyful dead

follow with breathtaking leaps,

with a flame in their eyes,

red in their white skulls.

And the white musicians,

on their black horses with no bits

Come to a stop, and here's what

the musicians say to the dead:

The first says, in a voice

ringing like a dulcimer

"Do you want to live twice?

Come, my name is Life!"

And all, even the poorest

who had had nothing to enjoy,

in a burst of passion all

the dead answered "Yes!"

The the other, in a voice

which sighed like a horn,

said to them "To live twice,

you have to love again!

So live, then! Entwine together!

Come, my name is Love!"

But all, even the most stupid,

the dead answered "No!"

and their fingers fleshless,

showing their hearts in shreds,

with cries of the damned,

went back into their tombs.

And the white musicians

on their black horses with no bits

nor saddles nor stirrups

allowed the dead to sleep.

• Artist:Édith Piaf