In a Florentine chapel
Once a year around midnight
One hears, a clandestine rumor
A funny commotion

Chatter, rustling, bursts of laughter
Like a frenzied aviary
Come closer and see these children
Curly-haired and mischievous-eyed
Clever and cheeky cherubs

Little chubby cherubs
Round and plump baby Jesuses
Out of paintings, gardens, or Heaven
Coming by the thousands and in a flurry of wings
To attend their annual congress

It's us, the little puttini
Bare-bottomed and chubby-cheeked
In paintings, in washes
In Italian marble
Braggarts, rascals, troublemakers,
Cute nipples, chubby bellies,
Let's sing the merry rigaudon,
The song of the big cupids
Bare-bottomed and chubby-cheeked
It's us, the little puttini

But now it's time for grievances
To complain, each one steps forward
A little cherub with a nice belly
Says: "I am the angel of a fountain,
I am one of those for whom the task is heavy
Carrying a basin four times my weight
Water flows over my eyes, floods my ears
And I come as you see me here
From a country where winters are cold"

"Don't complain," says another, "we freeze in Paris
Look at my complexion, I'm black as soot
I wait in vain for my balcony to be restored
I have asthma because of the pollution
And I serve as a perch for pigeons..."

It's us, the little puttini
Bare-bottomed and chubby-cheeked
In paintings, in washes
In Italian marble
Braggarts, rascals, troublemakers,
Cute nipples, chubby bellies,
Let's sing the merry rigaudon,
The song of the big cupids
Bare-bottomed and chubby-cheeked
It's us, the little puttini

"We are three musician angels
Carrying trumpets and tambourines
In a stern cathedral
We are condemned to silence

Even though we like cheerful refrains
Drinking songs, medical student couplets
Here we are, upright, silent, and gloomy
And, so to speak, on the verge of neurosis
Depressed by Gregorian chants"

A cherub says: "I play the lute
And I must tell you I don't like it much!"
Another replies: "You could have played the flute!
And that, my friend, does a lot of damage
It destroys the ear and the occiput"

It's us, the little puttini
Bare-bottomed and chubby-cheeked
In paintings, in washes
In Italian marble
Braggarts, rascals, troublemakers,
Cute nipples, chubby bellies,
Let's sing the merry rigaudon,
The song of the big cupids
Bare-bottomed and chubby-cheeked
It's us, the little puttini

"We don't want to play the stars
Since we're just a detail in a corner
But the painting that shelters us is great
And the guy who painted it is famous

With an adorable gaze turned to the heavens
Hand on the cheek or arms crossed
Mr. Raphael, we're a bit bored
And for our portraits sold worldwide
We haven't received a caramel."

"Ah, you make me laugh!"
Says a somewhat clumsy blond
I, who am as sober as a camel
Who could neither drink beer nor water,
I pee all day long!"

But the party is already over
See you next year, my friends
Let's put away our tambourines
Sackbuts and psalteries
Braggarts, rascals, troublemakers,
Cute nipples, chubby bellies
Let's return to our homes
Our museums, our lawns
Bare-bottomed and chubby-cheeked
See you soon, little puttini!

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