Love is a Language

La Vie en Rose

Pierre was only on bedrest for a few days, though he had to stay in the hospital wing the entire time. Henry got very lonely having to sleep by himself, but Peter pointed out very gently that before Pierre had showed up this was how it always was. Henry had forgotten this, and he did not like thinking about it very much. He missed Pierre a lot, even though he was only a floor away at most. But at least he got to see him every day. Except when Pierre was napping-he usually went and played with the others if he was asleep.

During his visits to Pierre's temporary room, he would draw pictures with the sick boy or read aloud a picture book to him. But Pierre would request at least one song from him on each visit. Henry only knew a few songs, such as the ones Miss Trelawny sang or the nursery rhymes that she put to music, but Pierre didn't seem to mind. He just liked listening to Henry's voice. The younger boy had never done much singing before, so hearing Pierre tell him that he had a pretty singing voice was really nice. He would practice singing in the hallways when he was alone. He stood in front of one of the bathroom mirrors and watched his reflection as he listened to his voice echoing around the bathroom.

Once Pierre was out of the hospital room (he hadn't had a fever for an entire day and had gotten very fidgety), he rejoined Henry in their shared room. He wasn't allowed to play outside quite yet, but he didn't mind. It was much warmer indoors anyway, and Henry had to agree with him. So they sat by the fire and had more French lessons. Pierre had gotten very good at speaking English, though reading and writing it was still tough for him. Henry wasn't quite at Pierre's fluency level when it came to speaking French, but Pierre always assured him that he was proud of the progress he'd made. He even taught Henry some simple French songs, admitting kind of shyly that he just wanted to hear the younger boy sing more often.

One day, Pierre taught Henry the song "Frère Jacques," which Henry realized he already knew the English words to. They both agreed it was a silly kind of song, which made it even more fun to sing. Both boys could be heard humming or singing the song off and on over the next few days. As much as Pierre said he liked Henry's voice, Henry found Pierre's singing voice sweet and charming (he discovered the word 'charming' in a fairy tale book and decided that it fit Pierre perfectly). He especially liked hearing him sing in his native language, and would beg him to sing it with him.

Frère Jacques, frère Jacques,
Dormez-vous ? Dormez-vous ?
Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines!
Ding, dang, dong. Ding, dang, dong.

Are you sleeping, are you sleeping,
Brother John? Brother John?
Morning bells are ringing! Morning bells are ringing!
Ding, dang, dong. Ding, dang, dong.

Pierre later taught Henry another song called "Aloutte," but he didn't like that one as much because it talked about plucking off a bird's feathers. So he made Pierre sing that one to him, since Pierre liked it so much. Another of Pierre's favorites, which soon became Henry's as well, was "La Vie en Rose," a song the French boy's mother and father danced to a lot. Miss Trelawny overheard them singing it to each other one day and told them with rather flushed cheeks that she liked that song as well. Mister McCrae, who happened to be visiting that day, took the opportunity to start humming the tune as he wrapped one of his arms around the flustered woman's waist. Pierre and Henry took up the words, singing a lovely duet with their sweet voices.

Quand il me prend dans ses bras
Il me parle tout bas
Je vois la vie en rose

Mister McCrae and Miss Trelawny danced right in the middle of the large living room as the little boys sang, not seeming to care that anyone could walk in on them at any moment. Miss Trelawny rested her head on Mister McCrae's shoulder after a bit, which made the Scotsman smile and blush a little bit. Mister McCrae hummed along to Henry and Pierre's melody, though after a while the two children slowly dropped out so that Miss Trelawny could enjoy the sound of her dance partner's soothing baritone. After a moment or two, Henry leaned over and whispered into Pierre's ear, "What does la vie en rose mean anyway?"

Pierre thought about this for a moment, then shrugged one of his shoulders. "It means 'life in pink,'" he explained. "Ma mère said it means bliss, which means being very happy in life." Henry glanced over at Miss Trelawny and Mister McCrae, who were smiling at each other softly as the Scotsman carried on humming. Pierre followed his gaze and giggled softly. "I think they're in pink right now, yes?" he murmured to Henry, who was holding back his own giggles with one of his hands.

"Oh yes," Henry whispered, still trying to keep his giggles under control. "Very pink. Like Miss Trelawny's cheeks!" Now Pierre had to clap a hand over his mouth to stifle his own giggles. The two boys silently slipped out of the room, thinking it best to leave now before their happy laughter broke the spell over the two adults. But if they'd stayed just a little longer, they would have seen Mister McCrae slowly bring Miss Trelawny to a standstill as he finished the song, tilt her chin up with two fingers, then place a gentle kiss on her slightly parted lips.
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Translation Notes:
Ma mere My mother
"La Vie en Rose" roughly translates to 'life in pink,' which is referring to seeing the world through rose-colored glasses.  Not in the sense that everything is rosy and you're ignoring the problems around you, but in the sense of bliss and happiness.  If you'd like to look up the translation to "La Vie en Rose," you can listen to the Louis Armstrong version or go Google it. Also, "Alouette" is roughly translated to lark. The song is about plucking feathers off a lark because the singer was woken up by its song.

Author's Notes: This weekend was crazy...I got to pick up my siblings on Saturday, and then there was a slight hiccup in our family plans on Sunday because my Gram got sick. And then I had a date today, so I was a little busy...I finished the last little bit of this chapter after I got back from it. If you haven't seen "Into the Woods" yet (the movie we saw) then pleeeeeease treat yourself and go see it. Disney has cleaned it up and softened it a bit, but I still enjoyed it and would highly recommend it. Just don't take little kids though-it is not a little kid movie at all.

Thank you for sticking with me and being so patient. I hope you had a very happy holidays, and I wish you all a Happy New Year. See you in 2015!