Re: Ah si mon moine voilait danser

Actually, it's a Canadian song (Quebec):

http://members.shaw.ca/tunebook/monmoine.htm

"marcher" means "to work", in this context. You
sometimes say "le moteur marche bien" (the motor works
well; although more often: tourne bien), or "la
voiture marche bien" (the car works well). So, the
same for a mill.

The last verses are specially interesting:

"S'il n'avait fait voeu de chasteté
Bien autre chose je lui donnerais"...


--- Peter Bleackley <Peter.Bleackley@...>
wrote:
> I recently went to a Mediaeval Baebes concert, and
> heard the French folk
> song named in the title. It's about a woman offering
> a monk various
> priestly gifts if he'll dance
>
> Ah, si mon moine voilait danser
> un chapuchon lui donnerai
>
> (If the monk would dance, I would give him a hood)
>
> There are a couple of lines in the chorus that
> puzzle me
>
> Tu n'entends pas le moulin lon la
> Tu n'entends pas mon moulin marcher
>
> Don't you hear the mill, don't you hear my mill
> working?
>
> Can any francophones tell me the meaning of the mill
> in the context of the
> song?
>
> Pete
>

=====
Philippe Caquant

"High thoughts must have high language." (Aristophanes, Frogs)


		
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