Dremlender yingele / Dozing Boy Sung by Ita Taub. Recorded by Itzik Gottesman, Circle Lodge, Hopewell Junction, NY, 1987. Words by H. Leivick, music by Mikhl Gelbart.
Mikhl Gelbart (left) and H. Leivick (right)
Dremlinder yingele, yingele mayn, kukt nit tsu mir in di oygn arayn. Tifer in tifer in shlof grob zikh ayn. Dremlinder yingele, yingele mayn, Dremlinder yingele, yingele mayn.
Dozing boy, my boy, Don’t look me in the eyes. Deeper and deeper fall into your sleep, Dozing boy, my boy. Dozing boy, my boy.
Ikh bin geshtorbn un zey durkhn toyt vi du, gor mayn ershter, der letster fargeyt. Iz dir bashert gur der letster tsu zayn? Dremlinder yingele, yingele mayn, Dremlinder yingele, yingele mayn.
I died and see through death how you, though my first, is the last to go down. Are you really fated to be the last? [ in original poem: “Have you been sentenced (farmishpet) to be the last”] Dozing boy, my boy. Dozing boy, my boy.
COMMENTARY BY ITZIK GOTTESMAN
Ita Taub sings the first four verses of a seven verse poem written by the poet H. Leivick (Leyvik Halpern, 1888 – 1962). The complete poem “Dremlender yingele“ can be found in Leivick’s third volume of collected poetry “In Keynems land” (Warsaw, 1923). A scan of the poem is attached below.
I am not aware of any recording of Taub’s version with this melody of the poem. A version composed by the cantor Pinchos Jassinowsky was recorded by Sidor Belarsky on a 78rpm record. Sima Miller and Leon Lishner also recorded the song with Jassinowsky’s melody.
Chana and Yosl Mlotek in their folksong column in the Forverts newspaper “Leyner dermonen zikh lider”, June 3, 1987, print the words to the song and write that Mikhl Gelbart was the composer, not mentioning Jassinowsky. So it is fair to assume that Taub’s melody is the one to which they are referring, though I have yet to find it in Gelbart’s numerous publications.
You can hear the poet H. Leivick reciting the poem here:
Special thanks this week to Lorin Sklamberg and the YIVO Sound Archives and to Cantor Sharon Bernstein.
דרעמלנדערייִנגעלע
ווערטער: ה. לייוויק. מוזיק: מיכל געלבאַרט געזונגען פֿון איטע טאַוב .דרעמלנדער ייִנגעלע, ייִנגעלע מײַן .קוק ניט צו מיר אין די אויגן אַרײַן .טיפֿער און טיפֿער אין שלאָף גראָב זיך אײַן .דרעמלנדער ייִנגעלע, ייִנגעלע מײַן .דרעמלנדער ייִנגעלע, ייִנגעלע מײַן
Dus kind fun keynem nisht / No One’s Child A Holocaust adaptation of a Romanian song. Sung by Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman [BSG]. Recorded by Itzik Gottesman, Bronx 1991.
Anny (Hubner) Andermann poses with a group of orphans whom she helped to have repatriated from Transnistria. Archive of the United States Holocaust Memorial Musuem
BSG speaks: “Dus iz geven a Rumeynish lid in du zey ikh, az mir hobn gehat a yidishe versye.” Vi heyst es af Rumeynish? This was a Romanian song and here [in the notebook] I see that there was a Yiddish version.
IG: How is it called in Romanian? BSG sings in Romanian:
Copil sărac, al cui ești tu, Al cui ești tu pe-acest pământ? Tu ești copilul nimănui, Al nimănui pe-acest pământ.
Poor child, whose are you, Whose are you on this earth? You are no one’s child, No one’s on this earth.
BSG speaks: S’iz a lid veygn an urem kind Vus hot… S’a yusem vus hot keynem nisht of der erd.
Spoken: It’s a song about a poor child, who has… It’s an orphan who has no one in this world.
BSG sings:
Di urem kind mit shvartse hur. Mit shvartse oygn zug mir gur. Far vus dertseylsti yeydn yid, Az di bist dus kind fun keynem nisht?
You poor child with blck hair With black eyes, tell me: Why do you tell every Jew/every one That you are no one’s child?
“A sakh trern hob ikh fargosn, Mayn mamenyu hot men geshosn. Zi iz geshtorbn af deym ort. ‘Mayn tokhter’ var ir letse vort.
“Many tears have I spilled, My mother was shot. She died on the spot. ‘My daughter’ were her last words”
BSG – Spoken = S’iz a ponim fin Transnistra. It appears to be about Transnistria.
Mayn tatenyu hob ikh farloyrn. Far kelt in hinger iz er ayngefrorn Tsu shtarbn var zayn biter loz [German = los] In an Ukrainer kolkhoz.
I lost my dear father. From cold and hunger he froze. To die was his bitter fate In a Ukrainian kolkhoz. [ Soviet collective farm]
Ikh hob bagrubn mane libe. Elnt aleyn bin ikh farblibn. Men lozt mikh filn af yedn shrit: az ikh bin dus kind fun keynem nit.
I buried my dear ones. Alone, lonely I remained. At every step people let me feel that I am no one’s child.
BSG – “S’iz a versye vus me hot gemakht in Transnistria ober mit a sakh daytshmerizmen.” “It’s a version that was created in Transnistria but with many Germanisms. “
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
We’re posting this song in conjunction with the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 27, 2022. As noted in an earlier post, Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman wrote down in a notebook lyrics to songs she heard in the Displaced Persons camp in Vienna, 1947 – 1951. I asked her to sing some of those songs in 1991.
Bret Werb, musicologist at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in D.C. writes (via correspondence on email) about the Romanian song:
“The Romanian title is ‘Sînt copil al nimănui’ otherwise ‘Copil al nimănui’ otherwise ‘Cîntec de orfan’; the full lyric appears here,
As you’ll see it’s similar to the Yiddish version. The song was collected as “folklore” in 1972 from informant Gheorghe Cazacu of Costeşti village, Cotovschi district (the field recording is part of the Gleb Ciaicovschi-Mereşanu Collection, National Archive of the Republic of Moldova).
Thanks to Sandra Layman for transcribing and translating the Romanian verse. Thanks to Bret Werb for the information. Thanks to Carol Freeman, Paul Gifford, Joel Rubin, Suzanne Schwimmer and their friends who helped look for information on the Romanian song.
Der yold iz mir mekane / The fool envies me A song from the Jewish underworld sung by Yetta Seidman Recorded by Gertrude Nitzberg, Baltimore 1979, collection of Jewish Museum of Maryland
TRANSCRIPTION AND TRANSLATION (Yiddish transcription at the end of this post)
Der yold iz mir mekane. Der yold iz mir mekane. Der yold iz mir mekane far mayn urem shtikele broyt. Er vil fin gurnit visn, vi ikh ver oysgerisn Es kimt mir un biter vi der toyt.
The sucker/fool/patsy envies me. The fool envies me. The fool envies me because of my dismal piece of bread. He doesn’t want to know how I suffer. It is as hard for me as death.
Mayn mame in mayn tate, zey zenen geveyzn blate. Fin kayn tsuris hob ikh bay zey keyn mol nit gevist. Ven ikh bin gevorn elter, zenen zey gevorn kelter in ganvenen hot zikh mir farglist.
My mother and my father; they were in the underworld. I did not know of any troubles with them. When I got older, they became colder, And I got the desire to steal.
Ikh gey aroys in market, in khap zikh tsi a pocket. A mise-matn [mase-matn] hob ikh zikh dortn ungemakht. Es kimt tsi geyn a yenta, in brengt mit zikh a mente in in “Steyshun-hoyz” hot men mir gebrakht.
I go out into the market, and pick a pocket, I committed a theft [literally – transaction] over there. A trouble-making woman comes over and brings with her a cop and to the Station House I was brought.
In droysn geyt a reygn, in droysn geyt a reygn. Se iz zikh shoyn ongefaln a kleyn bisele shney. Ale mayne yurn in “prizin” upgezesn, Az yeder eyver tit zikh mir shoyn vey.
Outside it’s raining; outside it’s raining. A small bit of snow has already fallen All of my years I spent in prison So every part of me hurts.
COMMENTARY BY ITZIK GOTTESMAN
Probably the most popular of the Jewish underworld songs, there is an East European version and an American version. Seidman sings the American version which includes the English language words “market” “pocket” “station house” and “prison”.
Those words are not found in the East European version. But on both sides of the Atlantic the Yiddish underworld slang words are kept – “mente” (policeman), “blate” (criminal) “mase-matn” (a theft, a criminal act but literally “transaction”).
Image: M. Leizerowicz in the play “Motke Ganef” by Sholem Asch from the Yizkor (Memorial) Book of Piotrkow Trybunalski
The song often begins with the verse “In droysn geyt a regn mit a kleyn bisele shney” and for those grammarians out there – the first line is usually sung “Der yold iz mikh mekane”.
Another version of the song, with a slightly different melody can be heard in the YIVO Ruth Rubin archive. On this 78 rpm record Morris Goldstein sings the original (?) American version (1922):
The song is featured in the film “Image Before My Eyes” (1980) sung by Lillian (Leyele) Klempner. According to Lehman in his collection Ganovim-lider (1928), the song was written during the German occupation of WW1. Scans of Lehman’s version from Poland, words and music, are attached. Also see Jane Peppler’s comments on the song:
Tsen brider zenen mir geveyzn / We were ten brothers A Holocaust adaptation. Text by Israel Ashendorf. Sung by Molly and Josef Lubelski. Recorded by Abraham Lubelski, Bronx 1967
The Lubelski Troupe performing in a German D.P. camp
Transcription and Translation (Yiddish text after the commentary below)
Spoken by Josef Lubelski: “Tsen brider zenen mir geveyzn. An alt folkslid ibergearbet fun Ashendorf un Zigmund Taytlboym.” “We Were Ten Brothers”, an old folksong adapted by Ashendorf and Zigmund Taytlboym
Tsen brider zenen mir geveyzn in frayd in in payn. Iz eyner gefaln inter Kutne zenen mir geblibn nayn.
Ten brothers were we in joy and in suffering. When one of us fell near Kutne we remained nine.
Yidl mitn fidl, Berl mitn bas, zingen aykh a lidl, oy, in mitn gas. Yidl mitn fidl, Berl mitn bas.
Yidl and his fiddle, Berl and his bass sing a song for you in the middle of the street.
Nayn brider zenen mir gevezn yeder bay zayn mi in fakh. Iz ayner gefaln inter Varshe zenen mir geblibn akht.
Nine brothers were we we traded in cargo. One fell in Warsaw and eight remained.
Akht brider zenen mir geveyzn tsezayt in tsetribn farpaynikt eynem in Oshvyentshin [Oswiecim] zenen mir geblibn zibn.
Eight brothers were we, scattered and driven off. One was tortured in Auschwitz so seven remained.
Zibn brider zenen mir gevezn in groylteg un in shrek. en eynem in Vin gehongen, zenen mir geblibn zeks.
Seven brothers were we in the days of horror and fear. When one of us was hanged we remained six.
Zeks brider zenen mir geveyzn fartribn vayt in Krim. Iz eyner dortn imgekimen zenen mir geblibn finf.
Six brothers were we driven away to the Crimea. When one of us died we remained five.
Yidl mitn fidl, Berl mitn bas zingen aykh a lidl, oy, in mitn gas. Yidl mitn fidl. Berl mitn bas
Yidl and his fiddle, Berl and his bass sing a song for you in the middle of the street. Yidl and his fiddle; Berl and his bass.
Finf brider zenen mir gevezn un sonim un a shir. hot men eynem in Prag geshosn zenen mir geblibn fir.
Five brothers were we with countless enemies. When they shot one in Prague we remained four.
Fir brider zenen mir geveyzn in teyg fin bombes in blay. Iz eyner gefaln in Vilner geto zenen mir geblibn dray.
Four brothers were we during days of bomb and lead. One died in the Vilna ghetto, leaving three.
Dray brider zenen mir gevezn eyner in der bafrayter armey. iz er gefaln vi a held, zenen mir geblibn tsvey.
Three brothers were we, one in the liberated army. He died a hero and two were left.
In di tsvey ver zay zenen vilt ir avade hern: Ayner fun zey is Yidl in der tsveyter Berl.
And who the two remaining are you know of course: one of them is Yidl and the second one Berl.
Yidl mitn fidl. Berl mitn bas zingen aykh a lidl, nokh der tsayt fun mord un has. Yidl mit dem fidl, Berl mitn bas.
Yidl with the fiddle, Berl with the bass sing for you a song in the time of death and hatred. Yidl with his fiddle, Berl with his bass.
O-ho, o-ho, o-ho o-ho o-ho o-ho ho ho ho hoh hohhoho hoh hoho hoho hohohoho
Zoln ale itstert hern, un zoln ale visn mir veln nokh vi frier shpiln af khasenes un brisn.
Let everyone now hear, let everyone should know: we will still play for you as before at weddings and circumcisions.
Oy veln mir nokh kindlen. frukhtbarn zikh in mern, vi di zamd in yamen, un oyf dem himl shtern.
Oh will we have children, be fruitful and multiply, like the sand in the seas and the stars in the sky.
Yidl mitn fidl. Berl mitn bas Yidl with his fiddle. Berl with his bass.
Nor a kleyne bakushe hobn mir tsu aykh yidn. in der heym gedenken zolt ir undz in fridn.
Just a minor request we ask of you all. In your homes you should remember us in peace.
A khasene, a simkhe betn undz tsu gast. mikh – yidl mit dem fidl in mir [mikh] – Berl mitn bas
For a wedding, a party invite us as guests. Me – yidl with his fiddle. and me – Berl with his bass.
Oy, vet men in ayer hayzer gertner vet men flantsn. Vider vet men lider zingen vider vet men tantstn.
O in your houses gardens will be planted. Once again we’ll sing songs, once again we’ll dance.
oy, veln mir nokh shpiln, vayzn vos mir kenen. Az far veytik veln platsn di strunes in di sonim.
O, will we play, and show what we are capable of. Let our enemies and music strings explode out of pain [envy].
Yidl mitn fidl, Berl mitn bas. Yidl with his fiddle; Berl with his bass.
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
This is the third song that our blog is presenting from the repertoire of Molly (Male/Minska) and Josef Lubelski who traveled to Displaced Persons (D.P.) camps in Germany after the war to perform songs, skits and recitations. For more on their biography see their previously posted songs.
Versions of the popular folksong “Tsen brider zenen mir geven”, upon which this version is adapted, can be found in the Ginzburg/Marek Collection of 1901 and a short history of the folksong, words and music, can be found in the Mlotek collection Perl fun der yidisher poezye, p. 121 (see scans below).
Itzik Manger used the refrain for his song “Yidl mitn fidl”. In the Lubelski version, the music changes from the folk version when the number of brothers is reduced to two. The text at that point becomes more explicit on the plight and future of the Jews, rather than the demise of the brothers. Singer and compiler Shoshana Kalisch included a different Holocaust adaptation of “Tsen brider” in her collection of Holocaust songs – Yes, We Sang! – with words and music. One can hear that song at this link.
The author of this Lubelski version is Israel Ashendorf (1909 – 1956) but I could not find the text in his printed collections. In his introduction, Josef Lubelski mentions Sigmund Teytelboym as the musical adapter but I could not find any details on him. There is a 78 RPM recording of the Ashendorf song entitled “Yiddl [sic] mitn fidl” sung by I. Birnbaum and E. Zewinka, arranged by R. Solomon on the “Le Disque Folklorique Yiddish label”. There Ashendorf is credited as the author, spelled “Aschendorf”. A link to listen to the recording is here.
Israel Ashendorf (1909 – 1956)
I. Birnbaum and E. Zewinka recording
The Lubelski version is very close to the Birnbaum/Zewinka version but without instrumental accompaniment the Lubelski duo surely captures the sound and feeling closer to what the performance was like in the D.P. camps. One interesting change is that on the Birnbaum/Zevinka recording they sing “Royte armey” [Red army] and the Lubelskis sing “Bafrayte armey” [Liberated army]. Thanks this week to Alex Ashendorf, Abraham Lubelski for the recording and photo and to Eliezer Niborski for transcription help.
“שיכעלעך/Shikhelekh/Shoes” – An early American Yiddish theater song that crossed the Atlantic and came back.First version sung by Gertrude Singer, recorded by Gertrude Nitzberg, Baltimore 1979 from the archive of the Jewish Museum of Maryland. Second version sung by Manya Bender, recorded by Ruth Rubin 1950, NYC, found at the Ruth Rubin Archive, YIVO.
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
“Shikhelekh” a song about a boy in an immigrant family desperate to get a new pair of shoes, is interesting because there are two versions: one with a sad ending and one with a happy ending.
The older version, 5 verses long, with the sadder ending was first printed in the 1897 compilation Di yidishe bine, ed. J. Katzenelenbogen, NY. (A scan is attached). In this version the boy complains he cannot go to school barefoot and asks his father to buy a pair of shoes in the store next to his school. The song concludes with the father, “powerless”, crying together with the boy. This version was reprinted with the title “Papa mit dem shikhele” no date, in American Yiddish Penny Songs edited by Jane Peppler, 2015. (scan attached). We have not yet found recordings of this older version.
The newer version ( approx. 1916) with a “happy ending” concludes with a verse that relates how that young barefoot boy is now a lawyer and the girl he is with, playing “fortepian”, is his bride. The final refrain is:
Nu, Papa do you remember how eight years ago, when I cried and begged you to buy me a pair of shoes. Now I am a lawyer, and will make you happy for all of your years.
The singer, Gertrude Singer (1900 – 1979), recounts how she sang it often on the ship coming to America from Warsaw. In the Ruth Rubin Archive at YIVO, Manye Bender who learned the song in Bessarabia “on the way to America.” also sings the new version. Click here for her performance, beginning with the line “In droysn iz fintster”.
The transcription, translation and Yiddish of both versions follows below.
It is not clear who the composer is of the older “unhappy” version. The Mloteks point out in their Forverts newspaper column that in the collection “Di yidishe bine” it is placed right after Morris Rosenfeld poems but it does not appear in his collected works. In the column on June 20, 1976, the music as remembered by a reader is also printed.
The later-adapted revision with the happy ending was the work of the singer Josef/Joseph Feldman around 1916. On a song sheet for “Shichalach” as sung by Moishe Oisher (no date), the words are credited to singer Joseph (Josef) Feldman (scans attached). But on page two, it is written “Version by Jos Feldman”, acknowledging his text as a revision of an earlier song. On a 78 rpm record (1916) Josef Feldman recorded it and one can hear it at the Florida Atlantic University “Recorded Sound Archives”
The happy vs. sad ending of “Shikhelekh” brings up an interesting point: could the generation after the original 1890s version no longer accept such a sad ending, and thus inspire the happy, nostalgic song conclusion of 1916?
Thanks this week to Jane Peppler, Steven Lasky and his Museum of the Yiddish Theater, the YIVO Sound Archives and the Judaica Sound Archives at Florida Atlantic University.
TRANSLITERATION, TRANSLATION and YIDDISH
Shikhelekh sung by Gertrude Singer, recorded in 1979.
1 ) In droysn is fintster, in droysn iz nas, un du gey ikh borves, ikh ken nisht geyn in gas. Papa, ikh beyt mir far dir azoy fil mul. koyf mir a pur shikhelekh. Ikh ken nisht geyn in “skul.” Oy papa, di zolst dir oysbeytn a git yur. Koyf mir, papele, shikhelekh a pur. Oy, koyf mir, papele, shikhelekh a pur.
2) Der papa blaybt shteyn mit a troyern [troyerik] geveyn biz zayne trern faln afn kind aleyn. “Kind mayns, du veyst vi azey ikh hob dikh lib. Tsulib dayne shikhelekh vel ikh farpanen a kishn fun shtib. Oy kind mayns, mir zoln shoyn nisht hobn mer keyn noyt. Tsulib dayne shikhelekh hob [iz nishto] ikh nishto keyn broyt. Orem mayn kind iz nokh erger vi der toyt.”
3) In di tsayt flit avek un es iz shoyn akht yur Kik on [?] dem boychik, er vert shoyn a “loyer.” Dort zitst a meydele vos zi shpilt pian. Me zugt az dos meydele vet dem loyer’s kale zayn. Nu, papa, gedenkstu tsurik mit akht yur ven ikh hob dikh gebeytn far shikhelekh a pur. Yetst bin ikh loyer un ikh makh dikh glikekh af ale dayne yor.
1) Outside it’s dark; outside it’s wet, and I am walking barefoot; I can’t go in the street. Papa, I’ve asked you so many times to buy me a pair of shoes. I can’t go to school. Oy papa, may you succeed in praying for a good year. Buy me, papa, a pair of shoes Oy, buy me, dear papa, a pair of shoes
2) Papa remains standing with a sad weeping, until his tears drop on his child. “My child, you know how much I love you: because of your shoes, there is no bread. To be poor is worse than death.”
3) Time flies and it’s eight years later. Look at the boy [?] – he is soon to be a lawyer. There sits a girl who plays grand piano. They say that she will be the lawyer’s bride. So, papa, remember eight years ago when I begged you for a pair of shoes? Now I am a lawyer and I will make you happy all of your years.
שיכעלעך געזונגען פֿון גערטרוד זינגער רעקאָרדירט פֿון גערטרוד ניצבערג .אין דרויסן איז פֿינצטער, אין דרויסן אין נאַס
.און דאָ גיי איך באָרוועס, איך קען נישט גיין אין גאַס ,פּאַפּאַ, איך בעט מיר פֿאַר דיר אַזוי פֿיל מאָל .קויף מיר אַ פּאָר שיכעלעך. איך קען נישט קיין אין סקול .אוי, פּאַפּאַ, דו זאָלסט דיר אויסבעטן אַ גוט יאָר .קויף מיר, פּאַפּעלע, שיכעלעך אַ פּאָר “.אוי, קויף מיר, פּאַפּעלע, שיכעלעך אַ פּאָר
1) In droysn iz fintster, in droysn iz nas. “ikh hob nit kayn shikhelekh tsu geyn oyf der gas. Papa, ikh bet dir, azoy fil mol. Koyf zhe mir shoyn, koyf zhe mir shoyn shikhelekh a por. Koyf zhe mir shoyn, koyf zhe mir shoyn shikhelekh a por.”
2) S’iz avek gegangen a lange tsayt, Dos kind iz gevorn a groyser advokat. Er zitst mit zayn meydl, zey shpiln beyde pian. di meydl zogt, zi vil zayn kale zayn. “Papa, gedenkstu mit azoy fil yor tsurik. Ikh hob dir gebeytn shikhelekh a por? Un itst makh ikh dir gilklekh af ale dayne yor.”
TRANSLATION of BENDER
1) Outside it’s dark, outside it’s wet “I don’t have a shoes to go out in the street. Papa, I’ve asked you so many times Buy me, buy me a pair of shoes.”
2) A long time had passed. The child became a big-time lawyer. He sits with his girlfriend; they both are playing piano. The girl says she wants to be his bride. Papa, do you remember many years ago? I asked you to get me a pair of shoes. And now I will make you happy the rest of your days.
Of di grine felder/Dos fertsnte yor / On the green fields/The Year 1914
This week we are presenting two performances of this song:
1) Sara Nomberg-Przytyk (recorded by Wolf Krakowski, Way’s Mills, Quebec, Canada, 1986):
2) Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman (BSG), Lifshe Schaechter-Widman (LSW) and Jonas Gottesman (recorded by Leybl Kahn, Bronx, 1954):
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman:
Though we have chosen to feature two versions of the song that begin “Of di grine felder, velder”, the song is also commonly known as “Dos 14te yor” with variants that begin with “Dos 14te yor is ongekumen, oy vey” (“The 14th Year Has Arrived”). Among the singers who have recorded versions of this song: Sidor Belarsky, Majer Bogdanski, Leibu Levin and more recently Michael Alpert, “Psoy and the Israelifts” and Lorin Sklamberg/ Susan McKeown.
Michael Alpert’s a capella version of the song can be heard here. Plus, below is a contemporary interpretation of the song by Psoy and the Israelifts titled “1914” found on YouTube:
In YIVO’s Ruth Rubin’s Archive there are field recordings by Martn Birnbaum, Chinke Asher and Hannah Rosenberg. In the volume Old Jewish Folk Music: The Collections and Writings of Moshe Beregovsky (Mark Slobin, U. Pennsylvania Press, 1982; Syracuse University Press, 2000) there are 7 versions with melodies!
The song became very popular over a wide area of Eastern Europe during and after the first world war. So popular that it was recalled with amusement in a chapter in B. Kuczerer’s [קוטשער] Yiddish memoirs of Warsaw Geven a mol varshe, (Paris, 1955). He begins the chapter on the 1914 German occupation of Warsaw in this way:
“The 14th year has arrived – oy vey!
And soon it [the song] enveloped everyone and everything as if by magic… Day and night. Wherever you go, wherever you stand. In every street, in every courtyard, in every corner.
Who sang it loudly to arouse pity. Who sang it quietly, for oneself, to get it off your chest. And everywhere the same song. Everywhere the same melody, the same moan, the same tears.
‘The 14th year has arrived – oy vey!'” (p. 59)
But some versions of the song are about later years. In the Sofia Magid collection Unser Rebbe, unser Stalin, Basya Fayler sings about the “Dos akhtsnte yor” (“The18th year” p. 277 – 79). The linguist Prof. Moshe Taube remembers his father singing this song about “Dos 19te yor” referring to the Polish violence against Jews at that time (oral communication).
THE UKRAINIAN CONNECTION
This song can ultimately can be traced back to a Ukrainian song of the 1830s. In a review of a lecture by the Polish folklorist Jan Byston written by Max Weinreich, published in Yidishe filologye heft. 2/3, March-June, 1924, Weinreich refers to the first publication of this Yiddish song in the periodical Der Jude (n.1-2, April-May 1917 p. 123-124) in which the collector Anshl (Anselm) Kleynman remembers how in the trenches of 1914-1915 some Ukrainian soldiers sang their version, and Jewish soldiers heard it, translated it and it spread from there. In this lecture that Weinreich attended, Bystron pointed out that the song in Ukrainian was sung as far back as 1833.
Prof. Robert Rothstein found two versions of the Ukrainian song from 1834. He writes: “One stanza was found among Aleksander Pushkin’s papers, written on the back of a letter from Nikolai Gogol. Pushkin died in 1837.” He adds “It’s also known as Чорна рілля ізорана (Chorna rillia izorana – The Black Farm Field Has Been Dug Up). The reference is to the chornozem, the rich black soil of Ukraine.” [communication via email]
Inspired by the song, the Polish folk/death metal band Kryvoda uses a stark image of a crow on a dead soldier for their 2014 album entitled “Kruki”. Below you can hear their performance of Чорна рілля [“Chorna rillia”]:
The website “Yidlid.org” has written out a long version of the words in Yiddish, transliterated Yiddish, French and English and included the melody from Belarsky’s book
Longer versions can also be found in Shloyme Bastomski’s Yiddish folksong collection Baym kval pages 132-133 and Immanuel Olsvanger’s Rosinkess mit mandlen, 1920, pp. 259-261.
A note on the LSW/BSG version of “Oyf di grine felder, velder”: This is the only recording I have found which features my father, Jonas Gottesman (1914 – 1995), a physician born in Siret, Romania, singing along with Lifshe, his mother-in-law, and wife Beyle. He was a wonderful baritone singer and was the only one in the family who could harmonize, as can be heard on this recording.
Special thanks with help for this post to Wolf Krakowsky, Eliezer Niborski and Prof. Robert Rothstein.
TRANSLITERATION OF NOMBERG-PRZYTYK’s VERSION (Translation is on the video)
Of di grine felder un velder, oy vay, oy vay.
Of di grine felder un velder
ligt mit koyln badekt a zelner oy vay, oy vay
ligt mit koyln badekt a zelner oy vay, oy vay
Shvartse foygl kimen tsi flien oy vay, oy vay.
kumt tsu flien a shvartser foygl
un dlubet im oys di bayde oygn, oy vay, oy vay
dlubet im oys di bayde oygn, oy vay, oy vay.
Ver vet nukh im kadish zugn oy vay, oy vay
Ver vet nukh im kadish zugn?
Ver vet nukh im vaynen un klugn oy vay, oy vay
Ver vet nukh im vaynen un klugn oy vay, oy vay
Of di grine felder un velder, oy vay, oy vay.
Of di grine felder un velder
ligt mit koyln badekt a zelner oy vay, oy vay
ligt mit koyln badekt a zelner oy vay, oy vay
TRANSLITERATION and TRANSLATION OF LSW/BSG/JG VERSION
Of di grine, felder velder, vey, vey
Of di grine, felder velder,
ligt mit koyln badekt a zelner, vey, vey,
ligt mit koyln badekt a zelner, vey, vey.
On the green fields, woods, vey, vey!
On the green fields, woods
Lays covered with bullets a soldier, vey, vey
Lays covered with bullets a soldier, vey, vey
Kim tse flien shvartser foygl, vey, vey
kim tse flien shvartser foygl,
dzhibet oys bay im di oygn, oy vey.
dzhibet oys bay im di oygn, vey, vey.
Come fly here black bird, vey, vey
Come fly black bird
and peck his eyes out, vey, vey.
and peck his eyes out, vey, vey.
Sheyner foygl, shvartse vorone vey, vey
Sheyner foygl, shvartse vorona,
fli avek tsi mayn mame, vey vey,
fli avek tsi mayn mame, vey vey.
Black bird, black crow, vey, vey
Black bird, black crow
fly away to my mother, vey, vey.
fly away to my mother, vey, vey.
Zolst ir fin mayn toyt nisht zugn, vey, vey,
zolst ir fin mayn toyt nisht zugn,
anit vet zi nit oyfhern klugn vey, vey.
anit vet zi nit oyfhern klugn vey, vey.
Do not tell her of my death, vey vey
Do not tell her of my death
for she will cry and lament, vey, vey
for she will cry and lament, vey, vey.
Ver vet nukh mir veynen in klugn vey, vey
ver vet nukh mir veynen in klugn,
ver vet nukh mir kadish zugn? vey, vey.
ver vet nukh mir kadish zugn? vey, vey
Who will cry and lament for me? vey, vey
Who will cry and lament for me?
Who will say Kaddish for me? vey, vey.
Who will say Kaddish for me? vey, vey.
Nor dus ferdl, dus getraye, vey, vey
nur dus ferdl dus getraye
vet nukhgeyn nukh mayn levaye, vey, vey.
vet nukhgeyn nukh mayn levaye, vey, vey.
Only my faithful horse, vey, vey.
Only my faithful horse
Will follow at my funeral, vey, vey.
Will follow at my funeral, vey, vey.
Der vanderer: Geboyrn bin ikh in tsores un in leydn / The Wanderer: I was born with troubles and suffering Sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman (LSW), recorded by Leybl Kahn, NYC 1954
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman follows the transcription and translation.
TRANSLITERATION / TRANSLATION
Geboyrn bin ikh in tsures in in leydn
in troyer in in yumer in in klug.
Fartribn bin ekh fin ale mayne freydn.
S’mir nisht lib kayn eyntsiker tug.
I was born with troubles and suffering, in sorrow and with tears and misfortune. I’ve been driven away from all my joys: Not one day of enjoyment have I had.
Dus imglik traybt mekh arim iberal.
Es geyt mir oft mayn leybn oys. Vus fara tug ze ikh in ayn argern fal.
Di hofenung – dus iz mayn malekh-hamus.
Bad luck has driven me everywhere; Often has my life nearly ended With each passing day I see something worse. Hope has become my angel of death.
RefraIn:
Benken, benk ikh nukh mayn heymat shtark
Dortn shteyt mayn vigele, mayn rakh.
Vi lang ken ikh nokh zayn in na-venad.
Refrain:
I long so much for my home. There is my crib, my realm. How long can I still wander around?
Oy, di zin, di shants zeyer lib,
Dan sheynkeyt dayn lekht iz a prakht.
Nor mir eyner shantsti nebekh, trib.
ven bay dir iz tug, iz bay mir nakht.
O, the sun, you shine with great pleasure. Your beauty, your light is a splendor. But for just meyour shine is gloomy. When it is day for you, for me it is night.
Di derkvikst ayeydn mit dayn frimorgn,
mit shpatsirn, luft in gezint.
Nor mekh eyner derkviksti mit zorgn.
Vayl ekh bin urem, a farvuglt kind.
You delight everyone with your morning, with walks, air and health. But for me alone, you “delight” with worries, for I am poor, a homeless child.
Derkh der hofnung lad ekh nebekh noyt.
Fin alem bestn makht zi mekh umbikant.
Filaykht ervartert meykh der toyt,
Vil ikh shtarbn in man futerland.
On account of hope I suffer hardship. It has made the best things unknown to me. Maybe death awaits me, so I want to die in my fatherland.
Vayl benkn, benk ikh nukh mayn haymat shtark
Dortn shteyt mayn vigele, mayn rakh.
Vi lang ken ikh nokh zayn in na-venad? Na-vad.
{Refrain}
I long so much for my home. There is my crib, my realm. How long can I still wander around? Wander around.
The Germanisms in this song can only mean one thing – “Galicia”.The Jews who lived in Austria-Hungarian Galicia before WWI and in its sister territory Bukovina, where singer Lifshe Schaechter Widman (LSW) was from, were fluent in German, sang German songs, and had no problem with German words in their Yiddish. A Yiddish writer I often associate with Galicia, Fradl Shtok (from Brody?), mentions this song in her story “Komediantn” (Gezamlte dertseylungen, 1919, p. 57.)There, a street performer sings and plays on the flute – “Benken, benk ikh nokh mayn heymat…”. Unfortunately, she ends the song there.
“Over Vitebsk” by Marc Chagall, 1914
A printed version of this song, sung by Z. Goldstein, text and music, appears in Shloyme Prizament’s book Broder zinger (pages 163 – 164) with the same title that LSW uses to introduce the song “Der vanderer”. Other than the refrain, the words and music are quite different. The fact that both Goldstein and LSW call it with the same title, “The Wanderer”, indicates, in my opinion, that it is from a play or, more likely, a popular Broder zinger tavern performance (for a recent article on Broder zinger see the article “Broder Singers: Forerunners of the Yiddish Theater” by Amanda [Miryem-Khaye] Seigel).
The song became a beggar’s song at some point. In volume 8, #22 in the CD series Historical Collection of Jewish Musical Folklore 1912 – 1947 produced by the Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine, Kiev,the singer Yeshaya Khazan, recorded in 1939, sings a similar version to LSW. Khazan refers to this as a beggar song and his emotional performance, punctuated with “oy veys!” bears this out.
A longer printed version of the song, and one that is closest to LSW’s version, can be found in the collection of folk poetry Zeks yidishe folks lider(Six Yiddish folks songs) byL. M. Graboys (or Groboys), Kishinev, 1900.
Here the song is entitled “Benken benk ikh”. Though the author implies that he is the author of all the songs in the collection, this is doubtful. The first song “Der bal-dover mit dem khoyle”[the devil and the sick one] is a long version of the old ballad “Der lomp vert farloshn”, (listen to LSW’s version of this on Yiddish Song of the Week posted in 2011) which Graboys/Groboys certainly did not write.
One word gave me particular trouble in this song. In the refrain, all of the sources except LSW sing “Dortn izmayn vigele, mayn rekht”. What is meant by “rekht” in this context? I have heard many suggestions: birthright, citizenship, rights, among them. All are possible, though I have never heard “rekht” used that way with this syntax. LSW sings a different word which I hear as “raykh” (“reich” in German) and translate as “realm”.
During the short discussion after the song between collector Leybl Kahn and LSW, she clarifies that it is not a Zionist song.
In this posting, we examine three Yiddish Songs set to the tune of the Italian pop classic Return to Sorrento:
1) Fil gelitn hob ikh miter sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman, recorded in 1954 by
Leybl Kahn
2) Sheyn iz Reyzele dem sheykhets sung by Reyzl Stalnicovitz, and recorded by Itzik Gottesman in Mexico City, 1988.
3) Sore-Yente a song found in Meyer Noy’s collection at the National Library in Jerusalem, and performed by Sharon Bernstein, piano and vocal, and Willy Schwarz on accordion, Florence, Italy 2001.
This week we highlight three Yiddish songs that use the melody of an Italian pop classic Torna a Surriento (Return to Sorrento) music by Ernesto De Curtis (1875 – 1937), copyright 1905. The original lyrics were by his cousin Giambattista De Curtis. Here is a Dean Martin recording of the Italian song which we chose because it has a translation of the Italian lyrics (click here to listen).
There are even more Yiddish songs that use this melody, among them: in 1933 after the murder of Haim Arlosoroff in Tel-Aviv, a song was composed to this melody and a song sheet was published (A tragisher mord in Tel-Aviv/A Tragic Death in Tel Aviv). A song about the Polish Jewish strongman Zishe Breitbard (1883 – 1925) also uses a version of the melody (see Mlotek, Songs of the Generations, page 147-148 ).
Thanks this week to Aida Stalnicovitz Vda Fridman and Sharon Bernstein.
1) Fil gelitn hob ikh miter (I Have Suffered Much Mother)
Performance by Lifshe Schaechter Widman, recorded in 1954 by Leybl Kahn in NYC.
Lifshe introduces the song by saying “S’iz a lidl vus me hot gezingen in der ershter milkhume (It’s a song that was sung in the First World War).” The four verses are entirely in the mother’s voice, apparently addressed to her mother, as indicated in the first line.
TRANSLITERATION
Fil gelitn hob ikh miter
bay der as[ent]irung fun mayn kind.
Gearbet hob ikh shver in biter
Far vus lad ikh nokh atsind.?
Iz mayn zin nokh mayn nekhome
Vi iz er fin mir avek?
Afarshundn iz er in der milkhume.
Un a seykhl in un a tsvek.
Ziser Got ikh beyt ba dir
loz mikh nokh a nes gesheyn.
Eyder eykh vel shtarbn
Vil eykh mayn kind nokh eyn mol zeyn.
Dentsmult vel ikh riyik shtarbn.
Got tsi dir keyn tanes hubn.
Loz mayn kind khotsh eyn mul mir
nokh, “mamenyu” zugn.
TRANSLATION
Much have I suffered mother,
from the drafting of my child.
I worked hard and bitter.
Why do I still suffer?
My son is still my comfort
Where did he go and leave me?
Disappeared into the war,
for no logic, for no reason,
Dear God I pray to you
May another miracle take place.
Before I die,
I want to see my son once more.
Then I would calmly die
God, have no complaints to you..
Let my child say to me –
just once more “my mother dear”.
2) Sheyn iz Reyzele dem sheykhets (Beautiful is Reyzele, the Shokhet’s Daughter)
Performance by Reyzl Stalnicovitz, recorded by Itzik Gottesman, Mexico City, 1988.
Reyzl Stalnicovitz, photo by Itzik Gottesman
Reyzl Stalnicovitz was born in 1935 in Xalapa, district of Vera Cruz, Mexico. She was a teacher at the I. L. Peretz shul (“Di naye yidishe shul”) in Mexico City, and passed away in 1996.
Of the three songs presented in this post, this song was by far the most popular and has been printed in several collections and can be found in the field recordings of Ben Stonehill, Sarah Benjamin and at the National Library in Israel. As for commercial recordings: Lea Szlanger sings it on her CD Lea Szlanger In Song.
The text was originally a thirteen verse poem by Zusman Segalovitch (1884 – 1949) that first appeared in the periodical Der shtrahl, Volume one, #2 Warsaw, 1910 (see below). There it was titled Dem shoykhets tokhter: balade (The shoykhet’s daughter: ballad) followed by the inscription – Dos hobn kinder in shtetl dertseylt (This Was Told by Children in Town).
The plot – Reyzl wants to marry Motl but the father, a shoykhet (kosher slaughterer) boils with anger as she combs her hair because she refuses the match he made. He then cuts her golden locks. Then it gets “weird”: she swims into the Vistula (Yiddish = Vaysl) river and builds a little shelter for herself along the bank until her hair locks grow again.
Stalnicovch sings four verses. This ballad was almost always shortened when sung. For example in the Arbeter Ring’s extremely popular songbook Lomir zingen (1939, NY), only five verses are printed (that scanned version, words and music, are attached below).
TRANSCRIPTION
Sheyn iz Reyzele dem sheykhets.
Zi hot a yunge harts on zorgn.
Zi tants un freyt zikh mit ir lebn.
Vi a shvalb mitn frimorgn.
Es bakheynen ir di oygn
Es bakreynen ir di lokn.
Un a shtoltse iz zi shtendik.
Zi vet far keynem zikh nit beygn.
Un ir tate iz a frumer
un dertsu a groyser kaysn.
Ven di tokhter kemt di lokn
Heybt er on di lipn baysn .
Un der tate veyst nokh gornisht
Vos in shtetl veysn ale:
Az Reyzl hot shoyn a khosn.
Un me ruft ir Motls kale.
TRANSLATION
Beautiful is the shoykhet’s daughter Reyzl
She has a young heart with no worries.
She dances and is joyful with her life
as a swallow is with the morning.
Her eyes make her pretty
Her locks are a crown on her;
And she is always proud.
She will bow for no one.
Her father is religious
and also quick to anger.
When he combs her locks,
he starts to bite his lips.
And her father doesn’t know anything
what everyone knows in town:
that Reyzl has a groom,
and they call her Motl’s bride.
Spoken (transliteration):
Dos iz vos ikh gedenk. Ober di mame flegt mir dertseyln az s’iz geven epes a gantse tragedye, vayl der tate hot nisht gevolt az zi zol khasene hobn. Vayl er iz geven a sotsyalist, a yingl, un er iz geven a frumer yid. Er hot gevolt zi zol khasene hobn mit a yeshiva bokher. Un zi’s antlofn mitn bokher.
Spoken (translation): That’s what I remember. But the mother used to tell me that it was a whole tragedy because the father did not want her to get married. Because he (the groom) was a socialist boy and he (the father) wanted him to marry a Yeshiva student. And she ran away with the boy.
3) Sore-Yente
Performance by Cantor Sharon Bernstein, Florence, 2001 (accompanied by Willy Schwarz on accordion)
The third song that uses the melody of Sorrienta is Sore-Yente – a word play on the original Italian title. This was collected by Meir Noy in Israel in 1962 from Shmuel Ben-Zorekh, who learned it from an immigrant from Minsk. A scan of Meir Noy’s original notation, words and music are attached below.
TRANSLITERATION
Mit a nign fun akdomes
shteyt baym fentster Yosl-Monish,
Far der sheyner Sore-Yente
Zingt er dort tsu ir a lid:
Kum tsu mir mayn sheynes benken,
Eybik vel ikh dikh gedenken.
Kh’vel mayn lebn far dir shenken.
Vayl ikh bin in dir farlibt.
Azoy lang iz er geshtanen
vi der groyser pipernoter
un zi hert im vi der koter
un geyt derbay af gikh avek.
TRANSLATION With a melody from Akdometh stands at the window Yosl-Monish
For the beautiful Sore-Yente
there, he sings this song:
Come to me my longed for beauty
I will long for you eternally.
I will give you my life
For I am in love with you.
He stood there for so long
like a giant dragon.
She totally ignores him
And walks quickly by him.
Sheyn iz Reyzele dem sheykhets (Beautiful is Reyzele, the Shokhet’s Daughter) by Zusman Segalovitch (1884 – 1949) in the periodical Der shtrahl, Volume one, #2 Warsaw, 1910:
Sheyn iz Reyzele dem sheykhets (Beautiful is Reyzele, the Shokhet’s Daughter) from the Arbeter Ring’s songbook Lomir zingen (1939, NY):
Az in droysn geyt a reygn vern di shteyner nas
When It Rains Outside the Stones Get Wet
Sung by Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman and Lifshe Schaechter-Widman
BSG recorded by Itzik Gottesman, Bronx, 1980s; LSW recorded by Leybl Kahn 1954.
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman (BSG) learned this lyrical love song from her mother Lifshe Schaechter-Widman (LSW), and LSW probably learned it in her hometown of Zvinyetshke, Bukovina. At this “zingeray” (song sharing session) in the Gottesman home, one can hear other singers featured on “Yiddish Song of the Week” – Tsunye Rymer and Ita Taub –joining in:
Leybl Kahn had years earlier recorded LSW singing the same song; so we have a rare opportunity to compare the singing of the same song by mother and daughter:
In this performance BSGleaves out the second verse which she usually included. LSW does include that verse.I have transcribed and translated both versions though they are very similar.
Both versions have the wonderful rhyme of “khipe” (wedding canopy) with “klipe” (shrew or an evil spirit that won’t leave you alone).
At the beginning and end of the LSW recording the collector Leybl Kahn sounds confused because LSW had just sung for him another song beginning with the same line “Az in droysn geyt a reygn”.
BSG TRANSLITERATION
Az in droysn geyt a reygn,
vern di shteyndelekh nas. Un az a meydele shpilt a libe
vern ire bekelekh blas.
Second verse that she left out: Un az zi shpilt shoyn oys di libe
farlirt zi dokh ire farbn.
Un az zi shpilt nisht oys di libe,
miz zi dokh yingerheyt shtarbn]
Vos dreysti dikh mame far mayne oygn?
Dreyst dekh nor vi a klipe.
Kh’vel mit im avekforn in an anderer medine
un vel mit im shteln a khipe.
Oy, un a shadkhn, oy vey iz der mamen, vet ir zikh beyde nemen?
Say ez vet dir git geyn, say es vet dir shlekht geyn – far keyn kind vil ekh dikh mer nisht kenen.
Az in droysn geyt a reygn,
vern di shteyndelekh nas. Un az a meydele shpilt a libe
vern ire bekelekh blas.
BSG TRANSLATION
Outside, when it rains the stones get wet.
And when a girl falls in love
her cheeks get pale.
Second verse that she left out: And if the love is successful
she loses her colors.
And if the love is unrequited
then she must die
Why are you always before my eyes, mother.
You’re clinging to me like an evil spirit. I will run away with him to a foreign land
and marry him under a canopy.
“Without a matchmaker, woe is to your mother, you will take each other?
I don’t care if things go well, or bad with you.
I will no longerconsider you as my child”
Outside, when it rains the stones get wet.
And when a girl falls in love
her cheeks get pale.
LSW VERSION TRANSLITERATION
Az in droysn geyt a reygn
vern di shteyndelekh nas.
In az a meydele shpilt a libe
vern ir di bekelekh blas.
In az zi shpilt di libe
vert zi dokh un di farbn
In az zi shpilt nisht oys di libe
miz zi dekh yingerheyt shtarbn.
Vus dreysti dikh, mametshkele, far mayne oygn.
Di dreyst dekh arim vi a klipe.
Ikh vel mit im avekfurn in a fremder medine
un vel mit im shteln a khipe.
Un a shadkhn oy vey iz der mame
vet ir aykh beyde nemen. Say es vet aykh git zayn, say ez vet aykh shlekht zan
Far keyn kind, vil ikh dekh mer nit kenen.
Say es vet aykh git zayn, say ez vet aykh shlekht zayn
Far keyn kind, vil ikh dekh mer nit kenen. Say es vet dir git zayn, say ez vet aykh shlekht zayn
Far keyn kind, vil ikh dekh mer nit kenen.
LSW TRANSLATION
Outside, when it rains the stones get wet.
And when a girl has a love
her cheeks get pale.
And if the love is successful
she loses her colors.
and if the love unrequited
then she must die
Why are you always before my eyes, mother.
You’re clinging to me like an evil spirit. I will run away with him to a foreign land
and marry him under a canopy.
“Without a matchmaker, woe is to your mother, you will take each other?
I don’t care if things go well, or bad with you.
I will no longer consider you as my child”
Oy sheyn bin ikh a mol gevezn / O, I Was Once Beautiful Sung by Leah (Lillian) Kolko, recorded in Camp Boiberik, Rhinebeck, NYby Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman, 1974
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
Leah Kolko remembers learning this song when active in the youth branch of the Poale-Zion organization in Paterson, New Jersey in the the early 1920s. The recording here was made at Camp Boiberik in 1974 by Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman.
Image by Tsirl Waletzky
The rhyme “trovern” [instead of troyern] and “movern” [instead of moyern] indicates the song has its origin in the Ukraine. but dialectically speaking, the song is inconsistent.
TRANSLITERATION
Oy sheyn bin ikh a mol gevezn.
[Oy] vi der morgn shtern hob ikh geshaynt. oy, zint ikh hob zikh mit dir bakont,
oy, fun tog tsu tog ver ikh mer krank.
Ikh hob gemeynt az af dayne reyd
[Oy] ken men shteln movern [moyern]
Tsum sof hostu mir mayn kop fardreyt,
az ikh hob tsu veynen un tsu trovern.
Shpatsirn zaynen mir gegangen
ale shabes oyfn bulevar.
Oy, dayne reyd hob ikh gegloybt.
Oy, bin ikh geven a groyser nar.
Du vest zikh nokh a mol on mir dermonen,
vayl keyner hot dir nit azoy lib.
Oy, du vest forn un vest mikh zukhn,
nor ikh vel zayn shoyn fun lang in grib.
TRANSLATION
O, I was once beautiful.
O, like the morning star did I shine.
O, since I got to know you,
O, with each passing day I feel more ill.
I thought that upon your words
I could build stone walls.
In the end you turned my head around
so that I cry and mourn.
We used to take a walk
every Sabbath along the boulevard.
O, I believed in your words.
O, what a fool I was.
Someday you will remember me
for no one loved you as much as I.
You will travel all over and will search me
but I will have long been in the grave.
“Over Vitebsk” by Marc Chagall, 1914
Reyzl Stalnicovitz, photo by Itzik Gottesman
Yiddish Song of the Week 