Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 6.061 September 12, 1996 1) Dovid Edelshtat (Moishe Kijak) 2) Dovid Edelshtat (Kathryn Hellerstein) 3) Dovid Edelshtat (Hershl Hartman) 4) Umbashri'en (Zellig Bach) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 11 Sep 1996 21:12:37 ARG From: kijak@einstein.com.ar Subject: vegn edelshtats "main tzavoe" Diane Rabson [6.060] fregt zikh nokh vegn a gyte iberzetzung fun dovid edelshtats bakant lid. in "dodid edelshtats gedenk-bukh" (niu york 1952) iz faran a gute iberzetzung. ikh volt gevolt dermonen a teil fu h. leiviks lid "o, gute fraint"vos er hot gevidmet edelshtatn (geshribn in yor 1953). "nor brengt nisht,-volt oikh edelshtat gebetn- tzum keiver haint di fraihait-fon, kol zman mit ir batzirt men toit-dekretn, kol zman zi hengt in fule turmes oibnon." ikh nutz ois di gelegnhait tzu vintchn ale mendelianer a gut un gezunt yor. ayer fraint Moishe Kijak 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 11 Sep 1996 23:08:59 -0400 (EDT) From: khellers@sas.upenn.edu Subject: Edelstat's "Mayn Tsavoe" In response to a query re Dovid Edelstat's "Mayn Tsavoe," a good translation (rousing, rhymed, and rhythmic) is by Aaron Kramer, in his volume, _A Century of Yiddish Poetry_ [cornwall books, 1989, pp. 60-61]. l'shana tova! Kathryn Hellerstein 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 12 Sep 1996 01:46:18 -0400 From: hershl@aol.com Subject: Dovid Edelshtat Per Diane Rabson's inquiry, here is Aaron Kramer's translation of _mayn tsevoe_, as published in "A Century of Yiddish Poetry," selected, translated and edited by Aaron Kramer, Cornwall Books, Cranbury, NJ, 1989. Kramer's brief biography of dovid edelshtat may also be useful for her newsletter. I'll be glad to supply Kramer's address for permission to reproduce his copyrighted work. My Testament Oh comrades mine, when I am dead carry our banner to my grave: the freedom-banner, flaming red with all the blood that workers gave. And there, the while our banner flutters, sing me my freedom-song again, my "Battle Song"--that rings like fetters around the feet of workingmen. And even in my grave that song, that stormy song, will reach my ears, and for my friends enslaved so long there, too, shall I be shedding tears. And when I hear a cannon sound the final siege of want and pain, my song shall trumpet from the ground and set the people's heart aflame! Hershl Hartman 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 12 Sep 1996 18:39:40 -0400 From: zellig@aol.com Subject: Umbashri'en, another verbal superstiton In her recent introduction (6.058,1) Sandi Wisenberg mentioned the expressions "umbeshrin/imbishrin" that she heard as a child. Her undertstanding that it meant "keynanhore" is correct. (Keynan(h)ore is a reference to the evil eye of the _sheydim_, the beyze rukhes [the bad spirits]). In standard Yiddish it is spelled and pronounced _umbashrien_ and is a superstitious expression of negation. "Bashri'en" comes from the verb "shrayen" [talking very loud, yell]. One uses the expression "umbashri'en" after having spoken, for instance, complimentarily about an infant, young child , or adult -- about their beauty, health, intelligence, or good luck in life -- and then, promptly thereafter, asserts the hope that one did not speak too loud and that the laudatory comments did not reach the ears of the evil spirits. Therefore, not having heard the good things just uttered about the person, the evil spirits will not know and will not come after him to "reverse" the conditions. The prefix "um-" means _not_. For example: Umgeduldik [impatient]; umgliklekh [unhappy]; umbakant [unknown], umbaholfn [helpless], umshteyns gezogt [belittlement - "What does he know, umsteyns gezogt;" also, "mishteyns gezogt" as a verbal warding-off superstition. (See my post in Mendele "The Compression of an Expression" (4.213). In nouns it means the opposite of the original meaning. For example: umglik [misfortune]; umkoved [disrespect]; umru [unrest, apprehension]; ummentsh [brute, barbarian]; umkum [holocaust]. The _um-_ came into Yiddish from German "un-." Occasionally it can be replaced with _nit_., for example: "umfarshtendlekh" [incomprehensible] -- "nit farshtendlekh." The expression "umbarufn," found in some dialectal regions of Yiddish, carries exactly the same superstitious function as "umbashri'en." It apparently comes from the verb "rufn" -- to call, to call upon. "Umbarufn" serves the superstitious function of hopefully undoing and denying what good and complimentary one has just said about a child's or adult's appearance, good health, and fate in life, and that, disregarding such mention, one did not "call upon," and thus, khas vesholem, unintentionally invited the evil spirits to come and harm them. For a more comprehensive discussion about superstitious expressions in Yiddish please see my two posts in Mendele (5.090 and 5.101). Zellig Bach Lakehurst, NJ ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 6.061 Mendele has 2 rules: 1. Provide a meaningful Subject: line 2. Sign your article (full name please) Send articles to: mendele@yalevm.cis.yale.edu Send change-of-status messages to: listserv@yalevm.cis.yale.edu a. For a temporary stop: set mendele nomail b. To resume delivery: set mendele mail c. To subscribe: sub mendele first_name last_name d. To unsubscribe kholile: unsub mendele Other business: nmiller@mail.trincoll.edu ****Getting back issues**** 1. Anonymous ftp archives are available. ftp ftp.mendele.trincoll.edu in the directory pub/mendele/files A table of contents is also available, along with weekly updates. 2. Mendele archives can also be reached as follows: via WWW: http://sunsite.unc.edu/yiddish/mewais.html via gopher: gopher://sunsite.unc.edu/11/../.pub/academic/languages/yiddish/mendele via ftp: ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/academic/languages/yiddish/mendele