The third line of this short children’s song was difficult to understand, but thanks to Yiddish teacher and researcher Eliezer Niborski, I believe we have the complete correct version.
A ben-zokher (“zukher” in LSW’s dialect) is a ritual on the Friday night following the birth of a boy. At the home of the new born, the parents serve guests and relatives wine and fruit. The phrase “ben zokher” is from Jeremiah 20:15. See Hayyim Schauss’ description of the tradition in his work The Lifetime of a Jew.
“Wedding” by Issachar Ber Ryback, c. 1930
Niborski also found the ben-zokher – bokher rhyme in two other sources. One in a children’s song that Ruth Rubin sings, “Tate, tate, gey afn ben-zukher”, as heard at YIVO’s Ruth Rubin Archive. The second he found in the essay by I. L. Peretz “Dos yidishe lebn loytn yidishn folkslid” (“Jewish Life as Depicted in Yiddish Folksong”)
Special thanks to Eliezer Niborski and the Ruth Rubin Archive at the YIVO Sound Archive.
Zay zhe mir gezint, zay zhe mir gezint / Fare thee well, fare thee well. A version of “Di goldene pave”, sung by Lifshe Schaecter-Widman (LSW), recorded by Leybl Kahn, NYC 1954
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
This is LSW’s version of the old and popular song more commonly called “Di gildene/goldene pave”, the “Golden Peacock”. It seems that the song gave rise to the golden peacock as a symbol referring to Yiddish folksong and Yiddish artistic creativity in general.
Illustration by Shirley Knoring
The peacock, needless to say, has been a cross-cultural symbol for millenia. On her blog “Jewish Folk Songs” Batya Fonda discusses the various interpretations of the golden peacock and has transcribed and translated into English a couple of versions of the Yiddish folksong.
In YIVO’s Ruth Rubin Archive collection, Mary Michaels sings a version, recorded in 1956. Click here to listen.
More recently, Ruth Levin, accompanied by Alexei Belousov on guitar sings it on her recording Atlandish (2019):
LSW’s version makes no mention of the gildene pave, but a bird does remain as the central character along with the unhappy daughter/daughter-in-law. The line about having one hand appears in no other versions, and seems to me to be improvised at the moment of performance. The verses about “shver un shviger’s kest” and “a shlekhtn man” appear in all versions.
Interestingly, Moshe Beregovski pointed out the similarity of the melody of the song’s first line to a Ukrainian song (Old Jewish Folk Music, Slobin, p. 514) But LSW starts off the song with a different melody than other versions.
The song is included in many collections: to name a few with musical notation: Yidishe folks-lider, Beregovski and Fefer, 276-77; Die Schonsten Lieder Der OstJuden, Kaufmann, 80-81; Thesaurus of Hebrew Oriental Melodies, vol. 9, Idelsohn, #33, page 12; Jewish Folksongs from the Baltics, Karnes, p. 20-21; Mir trogn a gezang, Mlotek, 106-107.Yiddish Folksongs from the Ruth Rubin Archive, Mlotek and Slobin, p. 45-46.; just text – Yidishe folkslider in rusland, Ginzburg and Marek, #264-265, p. 215 – 217
—————————————————
Zay zhe mir gezint Sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman
Zay zhe mir gezint, zay zhe mir gezint mayn tayere mame, Ekh fur fin dir avek Say es vet mir git zayn, say es vet mir shlekht zayn Kimen vel ekh mer nisht tsirik. Say es vet mir git zayn, say es vet mir shlekht zayn Kimen vel ekh mer nisht tsirik.
Farewell, farewell, my dear mother. I am going away. Whether it will be good, whether it will be bad I will not be coming back.
Azoy vi s’iz biter mayn mame, miter A feygele oyf deym yam. A feygele oyf deym yam. Azoy i’ dekh biter, mayn mame, miter, az me hot a shlekhtn man.
Just as it is bitter mother dear, for a bird over the sea, so it is bitter mother dear to have a cruel husband.
Azoy vi s’iz biter, mayn tayere miter, a feygele in a fremd land. a feygele in a fremd land. Azoy iz biter mayn mame, miter az m’ot nor eyn hant. Azoy iz biter mayn mame, miter az men hot nor eyn hant.
Just as it’s bitter dear mother for a bird in a strange land, so it is bitter mother dear, when you have just one hand.
Azoy vi s’iz biter mayn tayere miter a feygele un a neyst. a feygele un a neyst. Azoy iz biter mayn mame, miter shver un shvigers kest. Azoy iz biter mayn mame, miter shver un shvigers kest.
Just as it’s bitter my dear mother a bird without a nest, so it is bitter my dear mother to live with my in-laws.
Zay mir gezint mayn tayere mame, ikh fur fun dir avek. Say es vet mir git zayn, say es vet mir shlekht zayn. ikh vel nit kimen tsirik. Say es vet mir git zayn, say es vet mir shlekht zayn. Ikh kim nit mer tsurik.
Farewell, farewell my dear mother, I am going away. Whether it will go well for me, or go poorly, I will not be coming back.
די זון פֿאַרגייט פֿאַר נאַכט / Di zin fargeyt far nakht / The Sun Sets at Dusk Sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman, recorded by Leybl Kahn, NYC 1954.
Lifshe Schaechter-Widman at a NY bungalow colony, 1950s
TRANSLITERATION
Di zin fargeyt far nakht. Dus meydele shteyt in drosn. Di bekelekh vern ir nas. Di koykhes geyen ir os. Zi shteyt in vart af deym ort,vi zi fleygt im tumid zeyn. Itst shteyt zi azoy lang in vart du aleyn.
Du vi ikh shtey in mayne trern tien gisn. O du, o du iz dus ertele vi mir fleygn mir beyde shmisn. Ot du o iz do iz dus ertele vi mir fleygn beyde shteyn. Itstert bin ikh nebekh geblibn aleyn.
Mamenyu getraye, vus eksti mir mayn leybn. Di ‘ost bay mir tsigenimen mayn khayes, mayn gold. Host bay mir tsigenemen mayn rekhte hant. Host im farshikt in a fremd land.
Sheyn bisti lyube af deym tuvl tse muln. Se nishtu aza keyser dayn sheynkeyt tsi batsuln. Sheyn bisti lyube tsi sheyn iz dayn numen. Dayne sheyne bekelekh vi di sheyne blumen.
Mamenyu, ikh beyt ‘ekh breng im tsirik. Breyng mir mayn leybn breng mir mayn glik.
TRANSLATION
The sun sets at dusk. The girl is standing outside. Her cheeks are getting wet. Her strength is weakening. She stands and waits at that place where she always saw him. Now she stands, alas, so long waiting alone.
Here where I stand and my tears gush. Oh, here is the place where we always used to talk. Here is the spot where we used to stand. Now I , alas, am left alone.
Mother dear, why do you shorten my years? You took away my life, my gold. You took away my right hand. And sent him away to a strange land.
Beautiful, you are my love to paint on the tablet. There is no emperor who can pay for your beauty. Beautiful, you are my love, too beautiful is your name. Your beautiful cheeks, like the beautiful flowers.
Mother, I beg you, bring him back. Bring me my dearest, bring me my happiness.
I have found 3 other variants of the song which I am attaching: one from Zhitomir (Ukraine) in Skuditski’s Folklor-lider (1936) p.153; one from the Kovensk region in Lithuania in the Ginzburg and Marek collection Yidishe folkslider in Rusland (1901) p. 168; and one in Nukhem (Natan) Shakhnovskiy’s Lider gezungen funem folk (1948) p. 20. Shakhnovsky was from Kremenchuk in the Ukraine and it seems most of the songs were heard there. In Shakhnovsky is there a printed melody similar to LSW’s. The texts of the two versions from the Ukraine are quite similar while the Lithuanian one has a refrain not found in the others. All of these variants are attached below.
The folk poetry of this song is quite striking and I believe it is quite old. I translated “tovl”, which usually means blackboard, as “tablet”, but “slate” or “board” are also possible translations. The emphasis on the place where they met and spent time together is beautiful in its simplicity.
Skuditski’s Folklor-lider (1936) p.153:
Nukhem (Natan) Shakhnovskiy’s Lider gezungen funem folk (1948) p. 20:
Ziser Got, vi dank ikh dir? / Sweet God, How Can I Thank You? Sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman (LSW), recorded by Leybl Kahn 1954, with another version, Reboyne-shel-oylem vi dank ik dir? / Master of the Universe How Can I Thank You?sung by Freda Lobell, and recorded by Ruth Rubin 1948
This song, in which a mother gives thanks for the marriage of her mezinke (youngest daughter), is not the first time and not the last time that these two singers will be paired together. And it is not surprising: Freda Lobell came from Chernovitz, Bukovina (today Ukraine) and LSW came from a small town in the same Bukovina region and later lived in Chernovitz. In the song “Vus a mul brent dos fayer greser” previously posted on this blog, one can also hear their two versions of the same song.
A Wedding in Cuba
In addition to Lobell’s recordings in the Ruth Rubin Archive at YIVO, she can also be heard on Rubin’s Folkways record “The Old Country”. The printed collection “Yiddish Folksongs from the Ruth Rubin Archive” includes three of her songs, words and music, but not this one.
The melody of this song is used by the Breslover/Broslover/Bratslover Hasidim with the words “Mitsve gedola lehiyot besimkhe tomid” (מיצווה גדולה להיות בשׂימחה תּמיד).
Here is a version with a Middle Eastern beat:
In LSW’s joyous version I believe that part of the fun is trying to intentionally squeeze in too many words into one line. The line beginning with “Shnirelekh….” As you hear she does not succeed but laughs at the attempt.
The klezmer fiddler Ilana Cravitz found the nigun in Moshe Beregovski’s writings, No. 187 (Skotshne) in Jewish Folk Music Vol. 4 Tish-Nigunim. It is to be found in Part II – the section with dances (see attached). She adds, “Definitely pre-WWI. The background note in Beregovski about the source is: No. 187. Sound recording No. 268/1 from Sh. Kulish in the town of Lyudmir [Ukraine] on July 17, 1913. Alternative version: auditory record K-888 from A.-I. Berdichevsky in the town of Bogopol [Ukraine] in 1913. The performer reported that he had borrowed this tune from the clarinetist, who performed it like a skotshne.”
Thanks this week to Ilana Cravitz, Jordan Hirsch, Hankus Netsky, Yelena Shmulenson and the YIVO Sound Archive.
TRANSLITERATION – LSW’s “Ziser Got”
Ziser Got vi dank ikh dir vus di host geholfn mir; aza gedile tse derleybn. Di host mekh tse shtand gebrakht haynt hob ekh khasene gemakht. Kh’ob shoyn mayn mezinke oysgegeybn. Ikh o’ dekh mir ayngehandlt skhoyre: Shnirelekh, blit in milekh, eydem fil mit toyre. Mayn harts iz fil mit freyd Di eyniklekh shlepn mikh baym kleyd. in eykh tsishn zey in der mit. Ekh bin dekh vi der keyser rakh. Mir iz haynt keyner glakh. Lomir tantsn ale drit.
TRANSLATION – “Ziser Got”
Sweet God how do I thank you for helping me; to live to see such a big event. You brought this about: today to marry off my youngest daughter. I have obtained my wares: Youthful daughters-in-law and sons-in-law full of Torah. My heart is full of joy. My grandchildren pull at my dress, and I in the middle of them. I am as rich as the emperor. Today no one equals me. Let’s dance us three.
זיסער גאָט ווי דאַנק איך דור וואָס דו האָסט געהאָלפֿן מיר .אַזא גדולה צו דערלעבן ,דו האָסט מיך צו שטאַנד געבראַכט הײַנט האָב איך חתונה געמאַכט .כ’האָב שוין מײַן מיזינקע אויסגעגעבן .איך האָב דאָך מיר אײַנגעהאַנדלט סחורה .שנירעלעך, בלוט און מילעך, איידעם פֿול מיט תּורה ,מײַן האַרץ איז פֿול מיט פֿרייד .די אייניקלעך שלעפּן מיך בײַם קלייד .און איך צישן [צווישן] זיי אין דער מיט איך בין דאָך ווי דער קייסער רײַך ,מיר איז הײַנט קיינער גלײַך .לאָמיר טאַנצן אַלע דריט
Reboyne shel-oylem vi dank ekh dir vu’ di ‘ost geholfn mir aza gdile tse derleybn. Az ikh ‘ob dus tsi shtand gebrakht der [di] mezinke khasene gemakht. nagidemlekh mit zey’r farmeyg. ikh lakh shoyn fin der gantser velt. ikh ‘ob mane kinderlekh tsufridn geshtelt; negidimlekh mit zeyer farmeygn. Bin ikh mir a shviger ‘ob ikh mir an eydem. tants ikh mir in intershtibl [hintershtibl] shoklt zikh der boydem.
TRANSLATION– Freda Lobell’s Reboyne-shel-oylem
Master of the universe how I thank you for helping me to live to see such a big event. I made this happen: married off my youngest daughter with Jews of wealthy means. I can laugh at the whole world. I have made my children happy. Rich men with their possessions. And so I am a mother-in-law and have a son-in-law. So when I dance in the backroom the attic shakes.
רבונו-של-עולם ווי דאַנק איך דיר וואָס דו האָסט געהאָלפֿן מיר .אַזאַ גדולה צו דערלעבן אַז איך האָב דאָס צו שטאַנד געבראַכט ,די מיזינקע חתונה געמאַכט .ייִדעלעך מיט זייער פֿאַרמעג .איך לאַך שוין פֿון דער גאַנצער וועלט איך האָב מײַנע קינדערלעך צופֿרידן געשטעלט נגידעלעך מיט זייער פֿאַרמעגן ,בין איך מיר אַ שוויגער ,האָב איך מיר אַן איידעם טאַנץ איך מיר אין הינטערשטיב .שאָקלט זיך דער בוידעם
No. 187 (Skotshne) in Jewish Folk Music Vol. 4 Tish-Nigunim, by Moshe Beregovski:
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 vasermentsh / The Waterman Sung by Sara Nomberg-Prztyk, recorded by Wolf Krakowski at Way’s Mills, Quebec, Canada 1986
Information on this song and Yiddish text contributed by Eliezer Niborski, Jerusalem:
“Der vasermentsh” is a Yiddish version of German composer Robert Schumann’s (1810 – 1856) composition. The original German text is entitled – “Der Wasserman” – written by the German poet Justinus Kerner (1786 – 1862.) The translation is probably the one Peysekh Kaplan (1870 – 1943) published in the weekly Hayntige tsayt, Bialystok, 1914. Click here for a link to a performance of the original German composition.
Klezmob – the contemporary klezmorim of Tübingen, the setting of Kerner’s original text
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman:
This creepy gothic Romantic-era song will perhaps follow the fate of Zalmen Scheour’s song “Margaritklekh” which is unsingable today because of its disturbing treatment of women at the hands of men. Demons and spirits in the water are part of international folklore, though usually it is a female demon, such as the Slavic Rusalka.
It is interesting that the Vilbig choir conductor in Vilna, Avrom Sliep, chose works with German/Austrian classical musical pedigree: last week“Farges dem tsar” with Strauss ll music and this week with Robert Schumann’s music.
What follows is a transcription of the Yiddish the way Sara Nomberg-Prztyk sings it and then the text in Yiddish submitted by Eliezer Niborski. The English translation by Wolf Krakowski is included on the video. Finally, we have included the original German poem by Kerner.
Der vasermentsh (transliteration):
Spoken introduction by Sara Nomberg-Prztyk: Der vasermentsh iz a lid fun repertoir fun Vilner, a Vilner khor, ver hot gehat hindert mitglider der khor. “Der vasermentsh” iz, glayb ikh, nisht kayn…ikh vays nisht fin vanen s’iz antshtanen di lid, vayl s’iz nisht keyn traditsye fun di yidishe geshikhte, fin di yidishe dertseylungen. Kh’ob dus ershte mul zikh getrofn mit deym Vasermentsh. Ober s’iz zeyer a sheyne lid un ikh vil zi du far aykh forshteln. Kho’ zi oykh nisht gehert nukh deym vi me zol zi zingen.
A mol in a zumertog sphetlekh bay nakht,
di zun geyt shoyn unter,natur shteyt fartrakht.
Farklaybn zikh meydlekh hinter der shtot, un zingen un tantsn in eyn karahod.
Kumt plutsling a bokherl oysgeputst fayn,
di tentserkes zet er, klaybt eyne oyx glaykh,
geyt tsu un tut on ir a grininkn krants,
nemt ir georemt, un firt ir tsum tants.
– Bokher, zog, vos yogt fun dir a kelt?
– in tifn vaser iz a kalte velt.
– hey, bokher, zog, vos bistu azoy blas?
– In tifn vaser iz dokh kalt un nas.
Er tansts mit ir, un firt ir in a zayt.
– Hey, bokher, loz! es past dokh nisht far layt!
Er tantst mit ir tsum vaser tsu.
– Hey, bokher, zog, vuhin geystu?
Er nemt arum ir shlankn layb:
– Mayn kind, du bist dem vasermentshns vayb. Er nemt un er tantst in vaser arayn. – Hey, bokher, vos tustu? mayn mame mayn!
Er firt ir tsum palats fun reynem krishtol.
– Adye mayn velt, tsum letstn mol,
Adye, adye…
Der Wassermann (original German):
Es war in des Maien [mildem]1Glanz,
Da hielten die [Jungfern]2von Tübingen Tanz.
Sie tanzten und tanzten wohl allzumal
Um eine Linde im grünen Tal.
Ein fremder Jüngling, [in stolzem]3Kleid,
Sich [wandte]4[bald]5zu der schönsten Maid;
Er [reicht ihr dar die Hände]6zum Tanz,
[Er]7setzt ihr auf’s Haar einen meergrünen Kranz.
“O Jüngling! warum ist so kalt dein Arm?”
“In Neckars Tiefen da ist’s nicht warm.”
“O Jüngling! warum ist so bleich deine Hand?”
“Ins Wasser dringt nicht der Sonne Brand!”
Er [tanzt]8mit ihr von der Linde weit:
“Lass’, Jüngling! horch, die Mutter [mir]9schreit!”
Er [tanzt]10mit ihr den Neckar entlang:
“Lass’, Jüngling! weh! mir wird so bang!”
Er fasst sie fest um den schlanken Leib:
“Schön’ Maid, du bist des Wassermann’s Weib!”
Er [tanzt]10mit ihr in die Wellen hinein:
“O Vater und du, o Mutter mein!”
Er führt sie in [seinen]11krystallenen Saal: “Ade, ihr Schwestern [allzumal]
The Waterman (translation of the German text):
Once in the mild brightness of May, The young maidens of Tübingen had a dance.
They danced and danced all together
About a lime tree in the green valley.
A stranger, a lad in a proud garment, Soon attached himself to the most beautiful maiden;
He stretched out his hands to lead her into the dance, He placed a sea-green wreath upon her hair.
“Oh young man, why are your arms so cold?” “In the depths of the Neckar (river) it is not warm.”
“Oh young man, why are your hands so pale?” “The burning rays of the sun do not penetrate into the water.”
He dances away with her, far from the lime tree:
“Stop, young man!Listen, my mother is calling me!”
He dances away with her along the banks of the Neckar (River):
“Stop, young man!Woe, I am becoming so frightened!”
He seizes her tightly about her slender body:
“Lovely maiden, you are the waterman’s bride!”
He dances away with her right into the waves:
“Oh father, and you, oh mother mine!”
He leads her into his crystal hall: “Adieu, to you, my sisters all!”
Khidesht zikh nisht / Don’t be surprised A song composed and sung by M. M. Shaffir, recorded in the Bronx by Itzik Gottesman, 1974.
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman.
This post marks the tenth year anniversary of the blog “Yiddish Song of the Week”!We have been more than a little pleased with the effect it has had on singers, researchers and lovers of Yiddish song. We welcome all field or home recordings of Yiddish songs, particularly if they are lesser known or rarely sung nowadays. The quality of the recording or talent of the singer are not significant issues in this blog. Here is to ten more years!
Khidesht zikh nisht is the fourth and last song on this blog written and sung by the Montreal poet M. M. (Moyshe-Mordkhe) Shaffir (1909 – 1988); all recorded in the Bronx around the Gottesman’s dining room table in 1974. He dedicated this song to another Yiddish poet in Montreal, Ida Maze (1893 – 1962, pronounced “Ayde”, also known as Ida Massey) whose home became the Yiddish literary salon of that city. Something she said inspired Shaffir to write it but unfortunately I could not understand the whole story from the recording.
Montreal Yiddish writers 1936: back row left M. M. Shafir, next to him Shabsai Perl. Front row: Ida Maze left, Kadya Molodowsy center, Yudika, right. From the collection of the Jewish Public Library in Montreal.
Shaffir sings three verses which were printed with the music in his collection A stezhke (1940). Those pages which include the Yiddish text are attached. In a later collection he added three more verses.
TRANSLITERATION
Khidesht zikh nisht, vus ikh bin
azoy sheyn gevorn.
Di mame zugt, a khusn kimt,
Oyb nisht haynt iz morgn.
Don’t be surprised that I became so pretty. Mom says a prospective groom is coming, if not today then tomorrow.
Di mame zugt az fin Candren.
Vus art es mikh fin vanen?
Ale mayne khavertes zenen mikh mekane.
Mom says that he’s from Candren [town in Bukovina] What do I care where from? All my girlfriends will envy me.
Di zin iz hant an ondere
un ondere di veygn…
Kh’volt gefreygt di mameshe – sheym ikh mikh tsi freygn.
The sun today is different and different are the roads… I would put a question to my mom but am ashamed to ask.
Kh’ob ungetin a likhtik kleyd
un a shnirl royte kreln – epes zugt in mir dus harts
az kh’el im gefeln.
I put on a bright dress and a necklace of red beads – something tells me in my heart that he will like me.
From M.M. Shaffir’s collection A stezhke (1940), p. 158:
Fun vanen nemen zikh di libes? / How do romances begin? Sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman, recorded by Leybl Kahn 1954, The Bronx, New York City
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
Though once fairly well-known and found in field recordings and several printed collections, I do not believe this lyric love song was ever recorded commercially other than on the CD Bay mayn mames shtibele, sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman’s (LSW’s) daughter Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman. Here we present a version by LSW herself.
Lifshe Schaechter-Widman, 1972
In the I. L. Cahan collection (1957) there are three versions of the song (#26, 27, 28) from the Kiev region, the Vilna region and Podolia region; so the song has been “traveling” over a wide area for a while. One of the verses in those versions (#27) continues the counting of excuses:
Dem dritn terets zolstu zogn,
du host dikh gelernt shvimen.
Dem fertn terets zolstu zogn,
az du host dayn tsayt bakumen [bakimen]
The third excuse you should give
is that you were learning how to swim.
The fourth excuse you should give
is that you are having your period.
Thus making this the only Yiddish song I have found so far that mentions menstruation.
YIDDISH TRANSLITERATION & TRANSLATION
Fun vanet nemen zikh di libes
fin deym shpeytn in fin dem lakhn.
Indzer libe hot zikh geshlosn,
in eyne, tsvey of der nakhtn.
How do romances begin?
From mocking and from laughing.
Our love was sealed –
during one, two evenings.
Tsvelef shlugt zikh shoyn der zeyger.
Fir mekh up aheym.
Vus far a terets vel ikh zugn
Bay mayn mamen in der heym?
The clock has already rung twelve.
Take me home.
What excuse will I say
at my mother’s at home?
Dem ershtn teyrets zo’sti zugn,
az di host geneyet shpeyt.
Dem tsveytn teyrets vesti zugn –
az di host geblondzet dem veyg.
The first excuse you should give
is that you sewed late.
The second excuse you should give
is that you got lost on the way.
Vus toyg mir dayne teyritsem.
Fir mekh up ahem.
Di mame vet dus tirele farshlisn,
in droysn vel ikh blaybn shteyn.
What do I need your excuses for?
Take me home.
Mother will lock the door
and I will be stuck outside.
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”
Klezmob – the contemporary klezmorim of Tübingen, the setting of Kerner’s original text
Montreal Yiddish writers 1936: back row left M. M. Shafir, next to him Shabsai Perl. Front row: Ida Maze left, Kadya Molodowsy center, Yudika, right. From the collection of the Jewish Public Library in Montreal.
Lifshe Schaechter-Widman, 1972
Reyzl Stalnicovitz, photo by Itzik Gottesman
