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”
Borukh Shulman – Nokh a keyver, nokh a korbn Borukh Shulman – Another Grave, Another Sacrifice Sung by Leo Summergrad, recorded in New York City, 1959 by Leo Summergrad
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
In 1906, in Warsaw, radical 19 year-old Borukh Shulman (Polish: Baruch Szulman, 1886 – 1906) threw a bomb and killed the hated Tsarist police chief Konstantinov. What happened next differs in various versions of the song. In one version, he escapes on the trolley but when he heard a wounded comrade David Apt call him back, he returned to shoot three policemen before he was killed. In another version he killed himself after killing the police.
Image of Borukh Shulman published in Shmuel Lehman’s collection Arbet un Frayhayt (Warsaw, 1921)
The majority of versions begin with the line “Vi s’iz gekumen der ershter Rusisher May” (“As soon as the Russian first of May arrived”).
This song seems to have been quite popular before the 1950s. It appears in the Workmen’s Circle collection Zing mit mir (1945) with the music (see scan below). Leo Summergrad says he probably learned this two-verse version in his “Ordn” folkshule (secular Yiddish school) in NY.
In 1950, Yankl Goldman also sang a two-verse version that is preserved in the Ruth Rubin Archive at YIVO. Goldman’s version was printed, words and music, in Yiddish Folksongs from the Ruth Rubin Archive, p. 143 (Slobin/Mlotek Detroit, 2007). According to the YIVO website, Goldman was born in 1885 in Warsaw, and had been a needle trades factory worker. Here is that recording:
The “Warsaw Revolutionary Choir” recently sang a longer version of Borukh Shulman at his grave in the Warsaw Jewish cemetery. Here is a link to video link.
A nine-verse variant with music appears in Shmuel Lehman’s collection Arbet un Frayhayt (Warsaw, 1921) p. 64-66 (see scan below). We have also transliterated and translated this version, the longest one.
Other versions were printed in S. Bastomski’s Yidishe folkslider (Vilnius, 1923) p. 90-91 (text only, see scan below), Aharon Vinkovetsky et al.. “Anthology of Yiddish Folksongs” (1987) volume 4 and Sofia Magid’s collection Unser Rebbe und unser Stalin (Grozinger/Hudak-Lazic) p. 244.
Thanks this week to Karolina Szymaniak, the YIVO Sound Archives, Lorin Sklamberg and Leo Summergrad.
TRANSLITERATION (Summergrad version)
Nokh a keyver, nokh a korbn Nokh a lebn iz tseshtert fun der velt. Nokh a kemfer iz opgeshtorbn Borukh Shulman der bavuster held.
Veynt nit brider, veynt nit shvester. veynt nit muter nokh ayer kind. Az es falt, falt der bester: Der vos hot undz getray gedint.
TRANSLATION (Summergrad version)
Another grave, another sacrifice. Another life destroyed in this world. Another fighter has died – Borukh Shulman the famous hero.
Don’t cry brother, don’t cry sister; don’t cry mother for you child. When someone falls, it is the best that falls. He who served us faithfully.
Note regarding Lehman Version: The expression “gekrogn a khap”, literally “got a catch” is unkown to me and probably means “got what was coming to him” or “got a surprise”
TRANSLITERATION (Lehman’s Version)
Vi es iz gekumen der ershter rusisher may hot men derhert in gas a klap: Dos gantse folk hot zikh getun freyen: Konstantinov hot gekrogn a khap.
Borekh Shulman iz in gas gegangen, gegangen iz er tsu dem toyt. Gezegnt hot zikh mit zayne khaverim mit der bombe in der hant.
Borekh Shulman iz in gas gegangen, bagegnt hot er dem tiran; Mit der bombe hot ir im tserisn Konstantinov dem tiran.
Borekh Shulman iz afn tramvay arof, hot Dovid Apt gegebn a geshrey; “Borekh, Borekh! Vu lozstu mikh iber, tsvishn di tiranen eyner aleyn?”
Borekh Shulman iz fun tramvay arop, gegangen rateven zayn khaver Apt. Aroysgenumen hot er dem revolver un hot geharget dray soldatn.
Nokh a keyver, nokh a korbn, nokh a lebn iz tseshtert fun der velt. Nokh a kemfer iz opgeshtrobn – Borekh Shulman der bavuster held.
Veynt nisht shvester, veynt nisht brider, troyert nisht muter nokh ayer kind! Az es falt, falt der bester, der vos hot nor getray gedint.
Dayne khaverim, zey shteyen bay dayn keyver, zey gisn trern yede minut. Rakhe veln mir fun di tiranen nemen, far undzer khavers fargosn blut.
Sheyne blumen tuen blien, bay Borekhs keyver af der velt. Dos gantse folk vet kumen knien far Borekh Shulman dem bavustn held.
TRANSLATION (Lehman’s Version)
Upon the arrival of the Russian May 1st an explosion was heard in the street. All the people were celebrating – Konstantinov got a “catch”. [surprise?]
Borekh Shulman was going in the street, he was going to his death. He bid farewell to his comrades with a bomb in his hands.
Borekh Shulman was going in the street, and he met the tyrant. With the bomb he ripped him apart – Konstantinov the tyrant.
Borekh Shulman got on the trolley, Dovid Apt gave a yell: “Borekh! Borekh! How can you leave me Along among these tyrants!”
Borekh Shulman got off the trolley. He went to save his friend Apt. He took out his revolver and killed three soldiers.
Another grave, another sacrifice, another life destroyed in this world. Another fighter has died – Borekh Shulman the famous hero.
Cry not sister, cry not brother, do not lament, mother, for your child. When one of us falls, he is the best one – he who served us faithfully.
Your friends, they stand at your grave They pour tears every minute. We will take revenge upon the tyrants, for the spilled blood of our comrade.
Beautiful flowers blossom at Borekh’s grave in this world [?] All entire nation will come and kneel for Borekh Shulman the great hero.
S. Bastomski’s Yidishe folkslider (Vilnius, 1923) p. 90-91
Shmuel Lehman’s collection Arbet un Frayhayt (Warsaw, 1921) p. 63-66:
Vus hosti dekh azoy ayngelibt in mir? / Why did you fall so in love with me? A lyric love song sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman.
Recorded by Leybl Kahn, 1954 NYC
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
Yet another lyric love song, a dialogue between boy and girl, from Lifshe Schaechter-Widman [LSW], recorded by Leybl Kahn. She most probably learned this in her home town in the Bukovina, Zvinyetshke. The song implies that the “Christian Hospital” is the worst place for a person to be.
A page from Leybl Kahn’s notes on LSW’s songs, 1954-55.
The typical four-line stanza in Yiddish lyric song usually has an ABCB rhyming scheme. In this song, the singer rhymes “gezeyn” with “fayn” in the 2nd and 4th line, in the first stanza. Rhyming the “ey” and the “ay” sounds seems to be acceptable to the Yiddish folksinger and LSW is not the only one to do this.
TRANSLITERATION
LSW spoken: A libeslid.
Vus hosti dekh azoy ayngelibt in mir?
Vus hosti af mir azoy derzeyn?
Kenst dekh nemen a sheyn meydele mit nadn
in leybn mit ir gur fayn.
Sheynkeyt hob ikh shoyn gezeyn.
in raykhkeyt makht bay mir nit oys.
Az ikh gib mit dir a red a pur klige verter,
tsisti bay mir mayne [di] koykhes aroys.
Shpatsirn ze’ mir gegangen,
der veyg iz geveyn far indz tsi shmul.
A shvartsn sof zol dayn mame hubn,
zi zol lign in kristlekhn shpitul.
Shpatsirn ze’mir beyde gegangen,
der veyg iz geveyn far indz tsi breyt.
A shvartsn sof zol dayn mame hubn,
vayl zi hot indz beyde tsesheydt.
TRANSLATION
LSW spoken: a love song.
Why did you fall so in love with me?
What did you see in me?
You could have taken a pretty girl with a dowry,
and lived with her just fine.
Beauty, I have already seen,
and wealth doesn’t matter to me.
When I speak just a few smart words with you,
you pull out all of my power.
We went a walking,
the road was too narrow for us.
A black end may your mother have,
I hope she lay in the Christian hospital.
We went a walking,
the road was to wide for us.
A black end may your mother have,
for she split us up.
Pitifers vab / Potiphar’s Wife: A Purim Play Song Sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman, recorded by Leybl Kahn, 1954 NYC
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
Potiphar’s wife and Joseph, by Rembrandt, 1634
Lifshe Schaechter-Widman (LSW) remembered this song from a purim-shpil in her home town, Zvinyetshke, Bukovina. The “Mekhires yoysef” Purim pay about the selling of Joseph was so popular that LSW term for the Purim players was “Yosef-shpiler”. This song sung by the Joseph character describes the attempted seduction by Potiphar’s wife (Genesis 39-40). It also is a good example of the open, carnivalesque atmosphere of the Purim holiday when even sexual topics could be referred to in public.
TRANSLITERATION
Pitifers vab hot mikh ongeredt,
ikh zol mit ir shlufn.
ikh zol mit ir shlufn.
Kh’o mikh getin a bore
mitn yeytse-hore,
az Got vet mikh shtrufn.
Pitifers vab hot mikh ongeredt,
mir zoln shlufn beyde.
mir zoln shlufn beyde.
Kh’o mikh getin a bore
mitn yeytse-hore,
az Yitskhok iz mayn zeyde.
Pitifers vab hot mikh ongeredt,
Mir zoln zayn tsizamen
Mir zoln zayn tsizamen,
Kh’o mikh getin a bore
mitn yeytse-hore,
az Rukhl iz mayn mame.
TRANSLATION
Potiphar’s wife tried to convince me,
that I should sleep with her.
I struggled with the evil inclination –
and remembered – God would punish me.
Potiphar’s wife tried to convince me,
we should sleep together.
I struggled with the evil inclination
and remembered – Isaac was my grandfather.
Potiphar’s wife tried to convince me,
we should be together.
I struggled with the evil inclination
and remembered – Rachel was my mother.
Ikh bin a tsigaynerl a kleyner / I am a Small Gypsy (Rom) Lad Pre-war version from Chernovitz, Romania.
Sung by Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman [BSG]
Recorded by Itzik Gottesman at the Sholem Aleichem Cultural Center, Bronx 1980s.
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
The more popular song version of this poem by Itzik Manger (1901 – 1969) was composed by Hertz Rubin (1911 – 1958) and has been recorded by at least thirteen artists. According to Chana and Yosl Mlotek in Songs of Generations, the singer Masha Benya received that version from Manger’s widow Genia Manger after the second world war in NY.
Itzik Manger in his Chernovitz days, 1920s
But this earlier version has a different melody, and slightly different words without the “Ekh du fidele du mayn” refrain. BSG learned this song in Chernovitz, which was Romania between the world wars and is now in the Ukraine.
Manger’s lyrics carry a number of commonly-held negative stereotypes about Romany (Gypsy) culture. However, considering the time in which he was writing, through first-person narration, Manger creates a sympathetic window into the challenges faced by Roma including poverty, oppression, and a sense of otherness as a minority community. The ever-wandering Manger, no doubt, felt like a kindred spirit.
In the Ruth Rubin Legacy: Archive of Yiddish Folksongs at YIVO, Sore Kessler sings this Chernovitz version and explains she learned it from the Yiddish poet M. M. Shaffir in Montreal. Shaffir was also from the Bukovina region (not Bessarabia as Kessler says in her spoken introduction), and a friend of BSG. Some of Kessler’s text differs and she sings a verse that BSG does not:
Shtendik zaynen mir af vegn, mir af vegn. Say bay nakht, un say in regn.
Always are we travelling,
travelling [on the roads.]
Both at night
and in the rain.
Accordionist Mishka Zignaoff (who was a Yiddish-speaking Russian Rom musician based in New York) recorded the melody as Galitzianer khosid (Galician Hasid) in a medley with the famous Reb Dovidl’s nign.
I am posting this song to mark Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman’s 5th yortsayt (1920 – 2013) which falls on the second candle of khanike.
Beyle and Itzik Gottesman looking over Yiddish field recordings, 1970s.
TRANSLITERATION
BSG Spoken: [Itzik Manger] iz geveyn maner a landsman, un hot geredt Yidish vi ekh. Vel ikh zingen in durem-yidish azoy vi er hot geredt. “Ikh bin a tsiganerl a kleyner” un di lider vus ikh zing zenen a bisele, tsi mul, andersh vi ir zingt zey, val ikh ken zey nokh fun der heym.
1) Ikh bin a tsigaynerl a kleyner, gur a kleyner
ober vi ir zeyt a sheyner.
Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la
Ikh veys nisht vi ikh bin geboyrn, bin geboyrn.
Di mame hot mikh in steppe farloyrn
Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
2) Dem tatn hot men oyfgehongen, oyfgehongen
Vayl er iz ganvenen gegangen
Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
Burves, hingerik un freylekh, ober freylekh
Fil ikh zikh vi a ben-meylekh.
Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
3) In mayn lidl kent ir hern, kent ir hern
Mayn tatns zifts, mayn mames trern.
Tra-La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
S’kost in gantsn nor a drayer, nor eyn drayer.
S’iz mayn veytik gurnisht tayer.
Trala-la-la-la-la-la-la
Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
TRANSLATION
BSG Spoken: “[Itzik Manger] was from the same city as me and spoke Yiddish as I do. So I will sing in the southern Yiddish that he spoke. “Ikh bin a tsiganerl a kleyner” and the other songs that I will sing are a little different than the way you sing them because I learned them form home.”
I’m a small Gypsy lad, a very small Gypsy lad,
But as you see good-looking.
Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
I don’t know where I was born, was born.
My mother lost me somewhere in the Steppes.
Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la
Refrain: Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la
They hanged my father, hanged my father
Because he went thieving.
Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la
Barefoot, hungry and merry, always merry.
I feel like a prince.
Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la
Refrain: Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la
In my song you can hear, can hear
My father’s sigh, my mother’s tears.
Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la
It will only cost you three kopecks.
My suffering doesn’t cost much at all.
Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la
Oy, di ershte zakh O, The First Thing
Sung by Tsunye Rymer
Recorded in NYC by Itzik Gottesman, 1985 Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
Tsunye (Isaac) Rymer learned this in his hometown of Krosne (Krasna), Ukraine, from a tailor who was a wonderful singer and therefore called “Kanarik” – canary.
Tsunye Rymer
Just as Rymer was leaving for America in 1921, he visited Kanarik on the “Tailor’s Street.” It was summer but Kanarik was covered with a blanket. It was said he had tuberculosis. He called Rymer over and asked him to sing something together with him. “This was the last song we sang together in Krosno”.
Often Yiddish songs that employ Russian/Ukrainian words for the rhymes use them to humorous effect, but in this serious song that is obviously not the case.
Thanks to Paula Teitelbuam for helping with this week’s blog.
TRANSLITERATION
Oy, di ershte zakh vel ikh dikh mamenyu beytn
in di zolst es mir tin tsilib.
Az Got vet helfn un az ikh vel shtarbn,
Zol men mekh derkhtrugn derkh mayn libstn shtib
Un nokh a zakh vel ikh dikh mamenyu beytn
in di zolst es yisponyayen. [carry out, execute]
Az mayn gelibter vet in shtib araynkimen
zolst im khotsh nisht obizhayen. [offend]
In dus iz mamenyu mayn letste bite –
di zolst im in gurnit obvinyayen. [blame, fault, accuse]
kh’hob man leybn zikh aleyn genemen
ikh zol nit darfn mer stradayen. [suffer]
TRANSLATION
O, the first thing, mother, that I ask of you,
and you should do it for my sake.
God willing, when I die,
they should carry me past my loved one’s house.
And another thing, I ask of you mother,
and you should carry it out.
If my loved one should enter our house,
at the least, do not offend him
And this, mother, is my last request:
you should not blame him for anything.
I took my own life,
I should no longer have to suffer.
Mame, a kholem (Mother, A Dream)
Performed by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman
recorded by Leybl Kahn, NY 1954
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
The motif of the lover who returns as a beggar is as old as Homer’s Odyssey and is found in ballads throughout the world. In this Yiddish ballad version, the former lover is not disguised as a beggar but has indeed become one because of his “character”.
“Jewish Beggar” by Rembrandt
I consider this ballad to be one of Lifshe Schaechter-Widman’s [LSW] masterpieces. Not only because it is certainly among the older songs in her repertoire, but because of the deeply emotional way she performs it, concluding with the dramatic last verse in which the woman reveals to her mother who is at the door.
In typical old ballad style, the dialogue prevails: first between mother and daughter, then between daughter and beggar (former lover) and finally, again, between daughter and mother. There is a break in the narrative after the third verse when the dialogue changes and at this point Leybl Kahn, who is recording the song, feels compelled to ask LSW to continue.
This transition from third to fourth verse is noteworthy. A new plot/scene develops at this point. It leads me to believe that originally there might have been two ballads that were combined to form one.
Supporting this idea are the awkward transitions between the two scenes in all the versions. We also have examples of separate ballads. Singer/researcher Michael Alpert recorded Fanya Moshinskaya, (born 1915 in Babyi Yar, Kiev), singing a ballad of the first scene – ‘Oy a kholem’. And he has recorded Bronya Sakina (1910 – 1988) from Olvanisk (Holovanivsk/Golovanevsk, Ukraine) singing a ballad – “Derbaremt aykh”- depicting the beggar/lover scene. Alpert currently sings both of them and sometimes combines them.
In addition, there are two other versions of just the beggar/lover ballad with no first “kholem” part in the Soviet Folklor-lider volume 2 1936, page 202-204,. Song #62 – “Shoyn dray yor az ikh shpil a libe” and #63 – “Vi azoy ikh her a lirnik shpiln”. The singer for #62 was Rive Diner from Bila Tserkva, Ukraine, 1926. The singer for #63 was Yekhil Matekhin from Sobolivke, Ukraine, recorded in 1925.
A nine-verse Odessa variant without music of the LSW combined ballad – “Oj, a xolem hot zix mir gexolemt” – can be found in Folklor-lider volume 2 1936, page 201-202 song# 61. This was republished by Moyshe Beregovski with music in his Jewish Folk Songs (1962) #34 pp. 75-77, reprinted in Mark Slobin’s Beregovski compendium Old Jewish Folk Music 1982, p. 353 – 355. The singer was Dine Leshner from Odessa, 1930.
In Leshner’s ballad, the transition verse between the two scenes, verse four, is presented in first person from the beggar’s viewpoint, not in dialogue. It would be quite confusing for the listener to figure out who is speaking, and I imagine the singer would almost be required to stop singing and indicate who is speaking (as LSW does at this transition point!).
Another variant of the combined version was collected by Sofia Magid in 1934 in a Belarus kolkhoz “Sitnya”, from the singer Bronya Vinokur (PON 103, full text on page 580, “Unser Rebbe, unser Stalin” edited by Elvira Grozinger and Susi Hudak-Lazic, 2008. The audio recording can be heard on the accompanying DVD). The initial dialogue is between a man and his mother. He then travels to the rebbe, and comes to her as a beggar. She curses him in the last verse.
Oyb du host a froy mit a kleyn kind, Zolstu zikh muttsen [mutshn] ale dayne yor. Oyb du host mir frier nit genumen, Konstu sheyn nit zayn mayn por.
If you have a wife and child, May you suffer all your years. If you did not take me before, Then you can no longer be my match.
Hardly the romantic ending we find in the LSW version.
I would like to take the liberty of suggesting some word changes in LSW’s version for any singers out there thinking of performing the song. These suggestions are based on the other versions and on the way LSW’s daughter, Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman [BSG] sang the song.
1) Clearly the last line in the first verse of LSW’s ballad, which doesn’t rhyme with “gedakht”, is a mistake. BSG sang instead the rhymed line –
“Az mayn gelibter shteyt baym bet bay nakht” [“That my lover is standing at my bed at night”]
But in Magid’s version and in the Alpert/ Moshinskaya’s version this line reads – “un fun mir hot er zikh oysgelakht” (and he laughed at me”) And in the Folklor-lider version the line reads “un fun mir hot er khoyzek gemakht” (“and he mocked me”) So the mocking of the girl is the “character” flaw that results in his becoming a beggar.
2) Instead of “futerland” Bronya Sakina sang “geboyrn-land” which strikes me as folkier and more appropriate, though in one of the Folklor-lider versions, the daughter does use “foterland” as well.
3) Instead of LSW’s “derkh mayn kharakter”, – “because of my character”, – others sing “durkh a libe” and “durkh a gelibter– “because of a love”, “because of beloved”. This also strikes me as the older concept and more in line with the whole song.
4) Instead of LSW’s “untershtitsung” – “nedove” is more traditional. Both mean “alms”, “donation”.
5) LSW sings “iftsishteln di hant” – “to raise up the hand”. Usually that would be “oystsushtrekn di hant” – “to reach out your hand”.
6) For the last line she sings “vayl dos iz der velkher iz mayn gelibter geveyn.” (“because this is the one who was my lover”) but shorter and to the point is “vayl dos iz mayn gelibter geveyn” (because he was my lover”). BSG sang it this way.
TRANSLITERATION
1) Mame, a khulem hot zikh mir gekhulemt,
Oy, mame, a khulem hot zikh mir gedakht.
Oy, a khulem hot zikh mir gekhulemt,
az man gelibter shteyt leybn mayn bet.
2) Oy a khulem tokhter tur men nit gleybn
Vayl a khulem makht dem mentshn tsim nar.
Morgn veln mir tsi dem rebe furn.
A pidyen veln mir im geybn derfar.
3) Vus ken mir den der rebe helfn?
Tsi ken er mir geybn deym vus eykh hob lib?
In mayn hartsn vet er mame blaybn
Biz in mayn fintsern grib.
In mayn hartsn vet er mame blaybn.
Biz in mayn fintsern grib.
Spoken: Leylb Kahn says “Dos gantse lid”
LSW: “Es geyt nokh vater.”
Leybl: “Lomir hern vayter.”
Spoken: LSW – “Es dakht zikh ir, az der khusn
kimt aran..”
4) Hots rakhmunes af mir libe mentshn
hots rakhmunes af mir in a noyt.
mit alem gitn zol nor Gotenyu bentshn.
Hots rakhmones un shenkts a shtikl broyt.
5) “Far vus zhe geysti azoy upgerisn?
Shemst zikh nisht iftsishteln di hant?
Fin vanen di bist bin ikh naygerik tsi visn.
Rif mir un dayn futerland.
6) Geboyrn bin eykh in a groys hoz.
Dertsoygn bin eykh eydl un raykh,
derkh mayn kharakter bin eykh urem gevorn
in intershtitsing beyt eykh du fin aykh.
7) Tsi vilt ir mir epes shenkn?
Git zhet mir in lozts mekh du nisht shteyn.
Tits mikh nit azoy fil krenken,
Vayl dus hob eykh mir mitgenemen aleyn.
8) Oy, mamenyu gib im shoyn a neduve.
Gib im shoyn un loz im do nisht shteyn.
Gib im avek a halb fin indzer farmeygn,
vayl dos iz der velkher iz mayn gelibter geveyn.
Gib im shoyn a halb fin indzer farmeygn,
vayl dos iz der velkher iz mayn gelibter geveyn.
TRANSLATION
1) Mama, I dreamed a dream,
oh mame, a dream i had imagined.
Oh a dream i had dreamed,
That my love was near my bed.
[..stands near me at night]
2) O daughter, a dream should not be believed.
Because a dream can lead you astray.
Tomorrow we will travel to the Rebbe
and give him payment for this.
3) O, how can the Rebbe help me.
Can he give me the one I love?
In my heart he will always remain.
Till my dark grave.
SPOKEN:
Leylb Kahn: The whole song
LSW: There is more.
Leybl: Let’s hear more.
LSW: She thinks that her groom has entered…
4) “Take pity on me dear people.
Take people on me in my need.
May God bless you with all good things.
Take pity and give a piece of bread.”
5) “Why are you going around in rags?
Are you not ashamed to hold out your hand?
Where are you from? I would like to know.
Tell me your fatherland.”
6) “I was born in a big house,
Raised noble and wealthy.
Because of my character, I became poor,
and for a donation from you I now beg.”
7) “Do you want to give me some alms?
Then give me and don‘t leave me standing here.
Don‘t torture me so,
For I have already suffered enough.”
8) “O mother give alms right now,
Give him now, and don‘t let him stand there.
Give him away a half of our fortune,
For he was once my beloved.”
Folklor-lider Volume 2 1936, pp. 202-204,. Song #62 – “Shoyn dray yor az ikh shpil a libe”:
and #63 – “Vi azoy ikh her a lirnik shpiln”:
Jewish Folk Songs (1962) #34, ed. Moyshe Beregovski, pp. 75-77, reprinted in Mark Slobin’s Beregovski compendium Old Jewish Folk Music 1982, p. 353 – 355:
“Unser Rebbe, unser Stalin” edited by Elvira Grozinger and Susi Hudak-Lazic, 2008:
Image of Borukh Shulman published in S
Itzik Manger in his Chernovitz days, 1920s
Beyle and Itzik Gottesman looking over Yiddish field recordings, 1970s.
Tsunye Rymer
“Jewish Beggar” by Rembrandt
