French Lyrics

Anatevka
(Bock, Harnick)
(Man)
"After a lifetime... A piece of paper, an edict for the authorities,
and we
must all leave our homes."

(Mendel)
"Rabbi, we've been waiting for the Messiah all our lives... Wouldn't
this be a
good time for him to come?"

(Rabbi)
"We'll have to wait for him someplace else. Meanwhile, let's start
packing."

(Yente)
"Well, Anatevka hasn't been exactly the Garden of Eden."

(Avram)
"That's true."

(Golde)
"After all, what have we got here?"

A little bit of this
A little bit of that

(Yente)
A pot

(Lazar)
A pan

(Mendel)
A broom

(Avram)
A hat

(Tevye)
"Someone should have set a match to this place years ago."

(Mendel)
A bench

(Avram)
A tree

(Golde)
So what's a stove?

(Lazar)
Or a house

(Mendel)
"People who pass through Anatevka don't even know they've been here."

(Golde)
A stick of wood

(Yente)
A piece of cloth

(All)
What do we leave
Nothing much
Only Anatevka

Anatevka, Anatevka
Underfed, overworked Anatevka
Where else could Sabbath be so sweet

Anatevka, Anatevka
Intimate, obstinate Anatevka
Where I know everyone I meet

Soon I'll be a stranger in a strange new place
Searching for an old familiar face
From Anatevka

I belong in Anatevka
Tumbledown, workaday Anatevka
Dear little village, little town of mine

Translation

french