Not to be confused with the similarly titled Pastourelle from this cycle, Pastorale is a lushly orchestrated nature piece full of shimmering string figures and woodwind and piano swirls. In contrast, the melodic line is intentionally monotonous, suggesting two people calling to each other across a stream or small body of water. The wider-ranging settings of the nonsense syllables "Baïlèro, lèro, lèro" serve as ecstatic little rhapsodies after every few static lines. Shorn of that ornamentation, the lyrics will give animal rights proponents a poor impression of shepherds in the Auvergne:

Shepherd, across the water!

Did you see the hare go harvesting,

The sickle between his front paws,

The whetstone between his rear paws,

The brioche on his back, with the key hanging?

"I did more than see him go;

I caught him."

Shepherd across the water!

Hey, what did you do with the skin?

What did you do with the ears?

And what did you do with the tail?

Say, what did you do with all that?

"From the skin I made a coat!

From the ears I made a pair of gloves!

And from the tail a trumpet!

If you wish to buy them, I'll bring them to you!"

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