Smutno niańki ci śpiewały, A ja już kochałem, A na lewy palec mały Srebrny pierścień dałem. Pobrali dziewczęta drudzy, Ja wiernie kochałem, Przyszedł młody chłopiec cudzy, Choć ja pierścień dałem. |
Your nannies sang sadly, And I already loved And for the left little finger I gave you a silver ring. Second girls were married, I faithfully loved A young unfamiliar boy came, Although I gave the ring. |
The presented manuscript of Pierścień (ENG: The Ring) is a draft autograph of the entire work, with a complete notation of the vocal part, two stanzas of the text and a fragmentary notation of the accompaniment. The manuscript belonged to Julian Fontana, Chopin's friend, who in 1859 posthumously published a collection of several of his songs, including Pierścień. The basis for the publication was this manuscript, considered by Fontana to be its first record chronologically and dated by him to 1841, which can be seen in the note made by him. Fontana had no idea about Chopin's entry in Maria Wodzińska's album of 1836, so using only this sketch and (possibly) a copy by Ludwika Jędrzejewicz, he independently reconstructed the missing elements of the work before publishing it. In 1864, Fontana donated (or sold) the manuscript to a person named Bixio, which was also recorded by him. Almost a hundred years later, in 1962, the autograph found its way to Alain Brieux's antique shop in Paris, where it was purchased by the Society of Fryderyk Chopin and brought to Poland.