French
Au clair de la lune, mon ami Pierrot
Prête-moi ta lume,* pour écrire un mot.
Ma chandelle est morte, je n'ai plus de feu.
Ouvre-moi ta porte, pour l'amour de Dieu.

Au clair de la lune, Pierrot répondit
Je n'ai pas de lume, je suis dans mon lit.
Va chez la voisine, je crois qu'elle y est
Car dans sa cuisine, on bat le briquet.

Au clair de la lune, l'aimable Lubin
Frappe chez la brune, elle répond soudain
"Qui frappe de la sorte ? ", il dit à son tour
"Ouvrez votre porte pour le Dieu d'Amour"

Au clair de la lune, on n'y voit qu'un peu
On chercha la lume, on chercha du feu
En cherchant d'la sorte je n'sais c'qu'on trouva
Mais je sais qu'la porte sur eux se ferma.

English
Under the moonlight, my friend Pierrot,
Lend me your light, so I could write a word.
My candle is out, I've no more light.
Open your door for me, for the love of God.

Under the moonlight, Pierrot replied,
I've no light; I'm in my bed.
Go next door, I believe that she is in,
For in the kitchen, someone lit a match.

Under the moonlight, friendly Lubin
Knocks at the brunette's door, she suddenly replies
"Who's knocking this way", he says in his turn
"Open your door, for the god of love."

Under the moonlight, little can be seen
The light was looked for, fire was looked for
Searching this way, I don't know what was found
But I do know that the door, on them was shut.

*In modern versions, this word is "plume", meaning pen. "Lume" is derived from "lumière", meaning "light".
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Au_clair_de_la_lune

Last week I finished my latest book, Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, which I thought was interesting and entertaining, though I'm not sure how well I liked the main character.  The book made much more sense to me than the movie; although, to be fair, that may have been because I was also posting on LJ and in various Harry Potter fora while I was watching it on cable. *grins* 

After reading this book, I realize that geisha are a bit more like prostitutes than I previously thought. They are paid to become what is, essentially, a mistress to a particular man, a danna; although, they still entertain other men, just not in an intimate way.  Whether or not they actually get the money themselves depends on their financial responsibilities in relation to their okiya, a geisha house/business.  As it was explained in the book, an okiya would buy a girl to raise as a geisha, but she would be responsible for paying the okiya back the cost of having purchased her, the cost of her training, and the cost of feeding/housing her all those years.  The okiya would, of course, also be entitled to a percentage of her earnings on top of that.  In addition to paying for non-intimate entertainment, before the geisha took a danna (usually arranged by her okiya), men would pay for the privilege of having the geisha's mizuage - basically, her virginity.  The book spoke in euphemism about "the eel" and "the cave."  *lol*  The man who bought the mizuage would not necessarily be the same man who would become her danna later on.  And, a geisha might have several danna during her lifetime.  

The story focuses on Sayuri, a beautiful girl with grey eyes, who is sold to an okiya to become a geisha at the time of her mother's death. It begins as a very typical orphan story with Sayuri being unfairly treated by the adults in her life. She makes friends with the other girl of similar age living in the okiya, Pumpkin, but loses her friendship when they become rivals. The story is told in the first person; so, of course, Sayuri seems very good & kind, even to fish. However, I'm not really sure that Sayuri was so good & kind as she (as the first-person narrator) wanted her audience to believe. ( Cut for spoilers. ) 

In other news, I heard that the box office returns for The Golden Compass have been disappointing, so far.  On MSNBC, they said that the film would be considered a success if it made $50 million over the weekend (Fri-Sun), but it only made $8 million on its first day of release.  I still want to see it, though.  :)

Since I haven't with the last few posts, I'll end with another song: "Radio Nowhere" by Bruce Springsteen. I don't think there is a Harry Potter video for this, so here is Bugs Bunny and friends:  


 from beepbeepgac

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