Page d'écriture [English translation]

Two and two make four

Four and four make eight

Eight and eight make sixteen

'Repeat!' calls the schoolmaster

Two and two make four

Four and four make eight

Eight and eight make sixteen

But look at the songbird

Passing in the sky

The child watches it

The child listens to it

The child calls to it

'Save me!'

'Play with me, bird!'

So the bird flies down

And plays with the child

Two and two make four

'Repeat' calls the schoolmaster

And the child plays

And the bird plays with the child

Four and four make eight

And eight and eight make sixteen

And sixteen and sixteen

What do they make?

They make nothing, sixteen and sixteen

And certainly not thirty-two

In any case

They all go away

And the child hides the bird

In his desk

And all the other children

Listen to its song

And all the other children

Listen to its music

And eight and eight go away on their turn

And four and four and two and two

On their turn they all skedaddle

And one and one is not one nor two

One and one go away equally

And the songbird plays

And the child sings

And the teacher cries:

'If you're finished clowning around!'

But all the other children

Are listening to the music

And the walls of the class

Slowly fade away

And the window panes return to sand

The ink returns to water

The desks return to trees

The chalk returns to the mines

The feather quill returns to the bird.

• Artist:Yves Montand
• Album:Chante Prévert