Translation of the song Au temps de Pierrot et Colombine artist Les Compagnons de la chanson

Au temps de Pierrot et Colombine,

At the time of Pierrot and Colombine

Dans un monde moins fou qu'aujourd'hui,

In a world less crazy than today,

Pierrot n'avait pas d'automobile

Pierrot didn't have a car

Pour aller retrouver son amie ;

To meet his girlfriend,

Il courait à perdre haleine

He ran to loose his breath

Sans s'arrêter aux fontaines,

without stopping at the fountains

Il courait, courait, courait.

He ran, ran, ran

Quand Pierrot retrouvait Colombine

When Pierrot met Colombine

Pour aller l'emmener dans les bois,

To bring her in the wood

Pierrot n'ayant pas d'automobile

Pierrot who didn't have a car

Prenait sa douce amie par le bras ;

Took his sweet friend by the hand

Et les mots lui venaient,

And words were coming to him

Et les phrases tournaient,

And sentences were turning,

Et Pierrot bavardait, bavardait,

And Pierrot chatted, chatted,

Sans penser à l'embrasser.

Without thinking of kissing her

Et sans automobile,

And without a car

Au bras de Colombine,

With Colombine

Il prenait tout son temps, tout son temps,

He took his time, all of his time

Pour lui offrir ses vingts ans.

To offer her twenty years

Quand Pierrot rêvait de Colombine

When Pierrot dreamed about Colombine,

Qu'il savait toute seule à à la ville,

Who was alone in the town

Pierrot n'ayant pas de téléphone

Pierrot without a phone

Pour pouvoir appeler la mignonne

To call the cutie

Allumait une chandelle,

Lighted a candle

Et couchait sur le papier

And wrote in the paper

Les choses les plus belles.

The most beautiful things

Et Pierrot tout entier à sa plume

And Pierrot dedicated with his pen

Écrivait pour calmer son ardeur,

Wrote to calm his ardor

Sous le regard distrait de la lune,

Under the absentminded watch of the moon

Souriant devant tant de bonheur ;

Laughing in front of all this happiness

Et les mots lui venaient,

And words were coming to him

Et les phrases tournaient,

And sentences were turning

Et son cœur chavirait, chavirait,

And his heart was beating, beating

Dans le bleu de l'encrier.

In the blue of the inkwell

Et les mots voltigeaient,

And words were hovering

Et les phrases tournaient,

And sentences were turning

Et quand venait le jour il restait

And when the day came, there were

plus de cent lettres d'amour.

More than a hundred love letters

Quand Pierrot attendait Colombine

When Pierrot was waiting for Colombine

Qui faisait son travail à la ville,

Who was doing her work in the town

Pierrot n'avait pas d'électrophone

Pierrot didn't have an electrophone

Pour tuer tout ce temps monotone ;

To kill the monotone time

Il prenait sa mandoline,

He took his mandolin

Composait des menuets,

Composed minuets

Des jolies cavatines.

Sweet cavatinas

Quand Pierrot épousa Colombine

When Pierrot married Colombine

Il était poète et musicien,

He was a poet and a musician

Colombine chantait dans sa cuisine

Colombine sang in her kitchen

En faisant sa lessive ou son pain.

while doing the laundry, or making bread

Et sans automobile,

And without a car,

Amoureux et tranquilles,

In love and quiet

Ils prenaient tout leur temps, tout leur temps,

They took their time, all of the time

Pour s'aimer éperdument.

To love each other madly

Et sans le téléphone ,

And without a phone,

Et sans électrophone ,

And without an electrophone

Ils vécurent jusqu'à près de cent ans,

They lived up to almost a hundred years

Et ils eurent beaucoup d'enfants...

And had a lot of children