ΠΑΡΑΠΟΝΙΟΥΝΤΑΙ ΟΙ ΜΑΓΚΕΣ ΜΑΣ

[Gomesio]

Hi everyone.
Is it even possible that on this eminent google group there's not the translation of this BIG classic?
I can't bear this! So please: help a non-greek speaker to fix the situation.
There's the lyrics

Παραπονιούνται οι μάγκες µας
κι οι αριστοκράτες όλοι
που δεν τους φέρνουνε να πιουν
μαυράκι από την Πόλη.

Έλα βρε μάγκα µου να πιεις
από τον αργιλέ µας
που 'χουµε πολίτικο
μαυράκι στον τεκέ µας.

Ν' ακούσεις τον Γιοβάν Τσαούς
που παίζει το μπουζούκι
και µε τις όμορφες πενιές
ανάβει το τσιμπούκι.

Και χανουμάκια έμορφα
θα µας τόνε πατάνε
και τσίκα μαύρη έξυπνη
και τσίλιες να φυλάνε.

Γλυκές πενιές θα ακούγανε
να χάσουν το μυαλό τους
πλούσιοι βιομήχανοι
να κάµουν το σταυρό τους

Και αυτοί θα διατάζανε
κάνε και µάς τσιμπούκι
μάγκες να μαστουριάζουμε
να ακούσουμε μπουζούκι.

Και όλα τα ανφάν γκατέ
µες στον τεκέ θα κάτσουν
μπουζούκι για να ακούσουνε
και για να μαστουριάσουν.

Γι αυτό σε λίγο βρε παιδιά
σε τούτη εδώ τη φύση
όλος ο κόσμος κι αν χαθεί
θα βρίσκεται χασίσι.

[Νίκος Πολίτης]

I don't have the time, momentarily, for a decent translation. But speaking of classics like Yovan Tsaous, I remembered something which probably is not widely known among the visitors of this forum.

A friend from Thessaloniki had an idea, couple of years ago or three, to give the 12 Tsaous recordings to 12 different amateur groups, for every group to record a remake of one of the original recordings. The result, a package of 12 recordings plus a leaflet plus an extended Yovan Tsaous biographical, are ready to download and print, at no charge, for any one interested. Well, admittedly, one of the groups had been formed for the purpose by the undersigned himself (with some help from two friends), but this is not the only advantage of the pack. There are 11 equally good or much better recordings too, each approaching its goal in a totally different way from all the others, plus the idea itself. Look for the adress “Yovan Tsaous tribute”.

[The Walrus]

Many thanks, Niko, for a lovely album!

[Laura Blumenthal]

Here's a translation (mine) - note that I translated "manges" as "lowlifes" for lack of a better word:

Our lowlifes are complaining

and all of the aristocrats

that they’re not bringing them to take

hashish from the City

 

Come on my lowlife, to take some

from our narghile

where we have City

hashish in our hash den.

 

You can listen to Iovan Tsaous

who plays the bouzouki

and his beautiful riffs

light the pipe.

 

And beautiful babes

will tamp it down for us

and dark, clever chika (a dark piece of hashish stuck into the bottom of the bowl)

and they’ll watch out for us.

 

Sweet riffs will be heard

so that they’ll lose their minds,

the rich industrialists,

so they’ll cross themselves.

 

And they would order:

Fix us a pipe,

lowlifes, so we can get high

so we can listen to bouzouki.

 

And all of the spoiled brats

will sit in the hash den

to hear bouzouki

and to get high.

 

That’s why, in a little while, guys,

in this environment here

even if the whole world disappears

there will always be hashish.    

[Gomesio]

Thanks a lot to everyone, especially to Kafetzou. The problem is that I would post lyrics to be translated all the time :)

[Laura Blumenthal]

Ha ha - well, it’s my favourite kind of puzzle, so go for it.  My limit might be one per week, though. 

i Laura i kafetzou  3:)

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "Rebetika" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rebetika/6-Fk86MarQg/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to rebetika+u...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to rebe...@googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rebetika.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[Gomesio]

Oh my god, so I will go for it!!!! Thank you very very much.
I'm so curious about  ΑΔΥΝΑΤΙΣΑ Ο ΚΑΗΜΕΝΟΣ by A. Kostis. Here the lyrics


Αδυνάτισα ο καημένος απ’ το ξύλο το πολύ
που 'φαγα στο δέκα δύο βρε απ’ την χωροφυλακή
αδυνάτισα ο καημένος βρε απ’ το ξύλο το πολύ
που 'φαγα στο δέκα δύο βρε απ’ την χωροφυλακή

Σαν η μάπα μου θα στρώσει και θα γίνω πάλε φίνος
θα μασάω απ’ το τσαντάκι βρε διφραγκάκι διφραγκάκι
σαν η μάπα μου θα στρώσει και θα γίνω πάλε φίνος
θα μασάω απ’ το τσαντάκι βρε διφραγκάκι διφραγκάκι
θα μασάω απ’ το τσαντάκι βρε κοσαράκι κοσαράκι

Μια της Βιόλας δυο της Βιόλας βρε μπαίνω στο τζαρδί της Λόλας
και της σκάω το παραμύθι βρε το κουκί και το ρεβίθι
μια της Βιόλας δυο της Βιόλας βρε μπαίνω στο τζαρδί της Λόλας
και της σκάω το παραμύθι βρε το κουκί και το ρεβίθι

Της ζητάω για τσιγάρα και άλλα πεντακόσια χώρια
κι άλλες τετρακόσες βάλε βρε να μου φύγει η στενοχώρια
της ζητάω για τσιγάρα και άλλα πεντακόσια χώρια
κι άλλες τετρακόσες βάλε βρε να μου φύγει η στενοχώρια

and here's the track https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWlD5eFk_f0

On Thursday, August 6, 2015 at 2:18:28 PM UTC+2, Gomesio wrote:

[Laura Blumenthal]

Wow - I had a bit of difficulty here - there are some references I couldn’t find anywhere, like “πάλε”, which I’ve translated here as if it were “πάλι”, but I guess it could be the French word “palais”, except that would not really fit into the sentence. I also had trouble with the mom “laying out” - I got the image of his mother laying out his fine clothes for him to wear, like in the old days (or something). Also, I have no idea who Viola and Lola are - they may be references to something known by others at the time. Also, "της σκάω το παραμύθι” - literally “I break her legend” - I have no idea what that means.

Can anyone else help?

Anyhow, here’s what I got - note that each verse is repeated:

I lost weight, poor me, from all of the beatings
that I got in the 10-2 from the guard

When/if my mom will lay it out and I’ll be a fine gentleman again
I’ll chew a two-franker - a twenty - from the pouch, man

One from Viola, two from Viola, wow - I’m entering Lola’s shack
and I break open her legend, the bean and the chick pea

I ask her for cigarettes and another 500 separately
and give me another 400, so I can get rid of this sorrow

i Laura i kafetzou 3:)

[Νίκος Πολίτης]

“Πάλε” is merely “πάλι” (modern Greek only), in some dialects. “Πάλαι”, on the other hand, means “at old times” but it is katharevousa. The reason Kostas Bezos preferred “πάλε” to”πάλι” is just to make it sound a bit more “mangiko”, to his opinion at least.

“10 – 2” is supposed to be the jailroom's number, bad Greek of course. 12 would be the correct number but, it wouldn't fit well into the rhytm of the verse.

“Σαν η μάπα μου θα στρώσει” (μάπα = face) means “As soon as I recover form having been beaten”.

“Viola” could be a (girl) name (of course a Bezos creation, I only know of an instrument being named so) but neither the name nor the girl did exist. The semi verse only tries to imitate on the well known expression “Μιά του κλέφτη, δυό του κλέφτη, τρεις και την κακή την ώρα” which means “a thief can escape once, even twice, but not always. Lola is a real girl of course, a hure of whom our hero is the “patron” (bully?).

“Σκάω το παραμύθι” to someone, means to first create a non – real story (paramythi) like (in our case) that I am totally broke, then smartly serve it to someone (e.g. Lola), so he / she believes it and gives me the money I ask.

[Laura Blumenthal]

Oh wow - this is wonderful.  Thank you Νίκο!

Yes - I misread “μάπα” as “μάνα”.  So I guess maybe a closer translation would be “As soon as my (terrible) condition settles down.”

“Hure” is German for “whore” - I supposed that’s what you meant.  A nicer term would be “a woman of ill repute”.  And her “patron” would be her pimp, I guess.

What’s the part about the bean and the chick pean (το κουκί και το ρεβήθι), though? I wondered if it might be a sexual reference.

i Laura i kafetzou  3:)

[Νίκος Πολίτης]

Yes Laura, “As soon as my (terrible) condition settles down” would be fine.

Of course it was “whore” that I meant, with our guy as her pimp.

“The broad bean and the chick pea” is used merely to complete the verse, of course taking advantage of the fact that revithi rimes with paramythi. The standard, stereotype expression “Το κουκί και το ρεβίθι, να σας πώ ένα παραμύθι” is one of the expressions with which the grand mother would typically introduce her tale and is of course very well known and recognized by all Greek speakers. No sexual or other reference.

[Gomesio]

Thank you so much to both Nikos and Laura, once again a "simple" translation isn't just a simple translation. It's a class of greek language and subculture at the same time!
What about the part in which he talks about cigarettes? The numbers relates hyperbolically to them, right?

On Thursday, August 6, 2015 at 2:18:28 PM UTC+2, Gomesio wrote:

[Gomesio]

and also: what's the meaning of "chew"? What OUR HERO does about the money with Lola and Viola? It's not clear to me :(

On Thursday, August 6, 2015 at 2:18:28 PM UTC+2, Gomesio wrote:

[Laura Blumenthal]

Ah - thank you, Νίκο - so “το κουκί και το ρεβίθι” is like “Once upon a time”, except that it rhymes with “παραμύθι”.

As for Gomesio’s other questions, I assumed that the cigarettes and the chewing tobacco (from the pouch) were literal, but the ending on 500 (πεντακόσ-ια) agrees with τσιγάρ-α while the one on 400 (τετρακόσ-ες) does not, so I’m not sure.

Laura  3:)

[Νίκος Πολίτης]

The last two verses:

I ask her for pocket money (e.g. for cigarettes) and for an extra 500,

plus another 400 extra, so I can fight my worries.

“To chew” (actually, “to eat”) is slang for picking money out from one's bag. A passant's bag, for example, but definitely not Lola's one. Lola will contribute in heavy cash, that is 500 +400 + pocket money, certainly a considerable amount in the 30s.

There are other standard expressions to start narrating a tale, too. I now remember of one, much longer than the legumes one:

Κόκκινη κλωστή δεμένη, στην ανέμη τυλιγμένη.

Δόσ' της μπάτσους να γυρίσει, παραμύθι ν' αρχινήσει.

Red thread fastened and coiled on the spinning wheel.

Give the wheel a hit, so it can start spinning, to narrate a tale.

[Laura Blumenthal]

Wow - I guess I was way too literal.  I still don’t understand why the endings on 500 and 400 don’t agree though - if it’s money, I suppose they should both be -a, for φρανκα, but please please correct me if I’m misunderstanding something.

i Laura i kafetzou  3:)

[Νίκος Πολίτης]

Bezos just didn't bother much.... It all was destined to go to America anyway, where no one else would have bothered either.

[zorz bate]

Am Freitag, 7. August 2015 19:21:17 UTC+2 schrieb Νίκος Πολίτης:

I don't have the time, momentarily, for a decent translation. But speaking of classics like Yovan Tsaous, I remembered something which probably is not widely known among the visitors of this forum.

A friend from Thessaloniki had an idea, couple of years ago or three, to give the 12 Tsaous recordings to 12 different amateur groups, for every group to record a remake of one of the original recordings. The result, a package of 12 recordings plus a leaflet plus an extended Yovan Tsaous biographical, are ready to download and print, at no charge, for any one interested. Well, admittedly, one of the groups had been formed for the purpose by the undersigned himself (with some help from two friends), but this is not the only advantage of the pack. There are 11 equally good or much better recordings too, each approaching its goal in a totally different way from all the others, plus the idea itself. Look for the adress “Yovan Tsaous tribute”.

https://yovan-tsaous-tribute.bandcamp.com/track/se-mia-mikroula-palaiologou-palaiologos-kladis
 

[zorz bate]

thanks for the tsaouss information!

i like this so much
https://yovan-tsaous-tribute.bandcamp.com/track/se-mia-mikroula-palaiologou-palaiologos-kladis