I
Lady, I have begged you so much,
if it pleases you, to love me
who is your vassal
for you are noble and well-educated
and you uphold all good worth.
For these reasons your friendship is pleasing to me.
Since you are courteous in all you do,
my heart is fixed on you
rather than on any other Genoese lady,
and it will show your mercy if you love me,
and then I will be better compensated
than if it were mine
- with the wealth collected there -
the city of the Genoese.

II
Minstrel, you are not courteous
in requesting this of me
since I will do nothing.
Go hang yourself!
- I will not be your friend.
Indeed, I'll slit your throat,
you cursed Provençal.
I'll heap these insults on you:
dirty, stupid, hairless!
I'll never love you
because I have a husband more handsome
than you, and well I know it.
Go away, brother. I have better things
to do with my time.

III
Lady, noble and distinguished,
gay, worthy, and intelligent,
Iet me profit by your teaching
because joy and youth guide you,
together with courtesy, merit and wisdom,
and every good quality
Because of this, I am your faithful lover
with no holding back:
frank, humble, and desirous of your mercy.
Your love torments me and overwhelms me so strongly
that it is pleasing to me;
therefore, it will be a kindness
if I can be your lover
and your friend.

IV
Minstrel, you seem mad
when you say such things.
May you come and go with misfortune!
You do not have the sense of a cat,
and, therefore, you displease me,
for you seem like something bad.
And I don't want this thing
- even if you were the son of a king.
Do you think that I am mad?
By my faith, you won't have me!
If you make a commitment to loving me,
you will die of cold this year.
They're a really bad lot,
the Provençals.

V
Lady, don't be so cruel to me
because it is not appropriate, nor is it necessary.
Rather, it seems good to me, if you please,
that I woo you in my way,
and that I love you with a true heart,
and that you end my pain,
and that I am your vassal and your servant.
For I see, and recognise, and know,
when I contemplate your beauty,
- fresh as a rose in May -
that I know of none more beautiful in the world.
And so I love you and will love you;
and if good faith betrays me,
it will be a sin.

VI
Minstrel, your Provernçal speech,
- since I take pleasure in myself -
I do not consider worth a penny.
I do not understand you any more than I do a German,
a Sardinian, or a barbarian,
nor do I care about you.
Do you want to horse around with me?
If my husband were to learn of this,
you'd have a bad quarrel with him.
Good sir, I'll tell you the truth:
I don't want your Latin speech,
brother, I assure you.
Go away, you ragged Provençal.
Let me be.

VII
Lady, into great distress
you have cast me, and dismay;
but once again I shall beg you
to let me show you
how a Provençal does it
when he is mounted.

VIII
Minstrel, I shall not be with you
since you care so much about me.
It will be better, for Saint Martin,
that you go to Lord Obizzino
who perhaps will give you a pack-horse
since you are a minstrel.

(Nappholz, Unsung women)