Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 14.037 April 18, 2005 1) gefrayter (Leah Krikun) 2) aftsulokhes (Meyshe-Yankl Sweet) 3) Yiddish song (Ruben Frankenstein) 4) nokhn khirurgishn tish (Lucas Bruyn) 5) hakn a tshaynik (Elye Palevsky) 6) New World Yiddish (Chassie & Elly Margolis) 7) mir zenen vi feygelekh fraye (Pearl Shifer) Visit Mendele on the Web: http://www.mendele.net 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: April 14, 2005 Subject: Re: gefrayter As a long-time resident of Israel (and a lifetime lover of Yiddish) I would like to point out that the Hebrew word you refer to is "frayer". This is one of a very long list of Yiddish words that have entered the Israeli lexicon, but I am quite certain that very few people are aware of the fact that they are speaking mame-loshn. The Mendele staff and lexicographers are presumably familiar with many of these - am I correct in this assumption? Leah Krikun 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: April 14, 2005 Subject: Re: aftsulokhes Regarding Irwin Mortman's posting on "aftsulokhes" [Mendele 14.036]---it never, in my experience, means a mere coincidence in North American Yiddish, but an evil coincidence, something which frustrates a good intention "we were going to have a picnic but aftsulokhes it rained cats and dogs." This accords with the general meaning of the phrase, not just in US, of "out of spite" or "on purpose"(see e.g.Niborski's and Vaisbrot's "Dictionnaire Yiddish-Francais"), which I've always taken to refer to the spiteful workings of Satan or other evil spirits. Meyshe-Yankl Sweet 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: April16, 2005 Subject: Re: Yiddish song [Regarding Sharon Bar Kochva's post, Mendele 14.036]: Yuda Leib Cahan in "Yiddishe Folkslider mit melodies" hot dos lid - Nr. 498. Er meint az s'iz a fragment fun a gresser lid wos iz shoin efsher farloirn gegangen. Er hot es ibergegeben fun zikorn azoi vi er hot es gehert, in sayne kinderyorn (arum 1890) fun sayn muter. Ich weis nor fun Belina, di hot es gezungen. Paul Celan hot dos lid genumen wi a moto far sayn poeme - "Benedicta". Ruben Frankenstein Freiburg 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: April 17, 2005 Subject: nokhn khirurgishn tish This poem by Yisroel Shtern (1894-1942) was published in _Haynt_ just as Hitler invaded Poland in 1939. ". [The historian Bar] Mark wrote that ..the symbolic poem "After the Surgical Table" by Israel Shtern, which was printed in Haynt on September 1, the day that Hitler invaded Poland, reflected the mood of the Polish Jews during those days. Shtern's poem resounded like a portent of the mad times that would soon befall the Jews. The poem was forgotten in the tragic occurrences of the Holocaust era and was not printed again. (from Haynt, a tsaytung bay Yidn, 1908-1939, by Chaim Finkelstein, p. 327.) nokhn khirurgishn tish dos meserl veys, az mit zenen nisht korn un makht vinter a vayle in mitn dem vaksn un heyst undz zayn eynzam; undzer otem tsesheydt zikh: tsvishn lebn un lebn spatsirt khloroform. mit vaykhe, geheyme un shotnde trit, vi tsvishn tsvey dekher a kats, vos farkukt zikh oyf veltisher hoykh. _ _ _ _ _ _ mir shlofn, mir shlofn, vi hayzer in shpet nakht nisht visndik, vos iber undz kumt for. vu zenen mir? tseshnaydt men undz take vi glombike peyres, vos vign bizn letstn tsi mitn otem in di glider dem duft, dem duft fun di gertn vu s'troyert nokh zey itst a boym? . oder zenen mir mer? epes vart nokh oyf undz? un mir zenen bloyz di farzindikte zin fun a tsornikn kenig: kedey mir zoln trogn getrayer di kroyn? mir zenen in midboyres fartribn . dorshtike trinken mir "shlof-getrank". kumt a mekhashef un kritst mit a meser bay undz oyfn boykh: "ir zent, mentshn "geven shoyn "baym zoym "fun thom, "kert zikh um "un gedenkt!" mir dervakhn in veysn: azoy fri hot nokh keyner dem toyt nisht gezen . _ _ _ _ _ _ far vos zenen nisht undzere layber di nekht, di troyerike nekht fun der velt, un beys men tseshpalt undz, zol a zing ton der hon: got hot dem khoysekh tserisn, es helt! Translation: After the operation The scalpel knows: we are not rye making a winter pause halting our growth orders us to be lonely; our breath is parting: Between life and life strolls chloroform. With steps soft, stealthy and in deep shade, like in between two roofs a cat, overlooking the world from up high. _ _ _ _ _ _ We sleep and sleep, like houses late at night not knowing, what is happening above us. Where are we? Are they just cutting us up like fruits on stems that swing until they inhale for the last time into their limbs the fragrance, the flagrance of the garden where grieves about them now a tree? ... Or is there more to us? Something still awaiting us? And we are only the sinful sons of a king in anger: That we may carry more faithfully the crown? We are driven out into the desserts ... Thirsty we drink "sleeping potion". Comes a magician and scratches us with a knife on our bellies: "You people have already been at the edge of the abyss, return and remember!" We wake up knowing: So early no one ever saw death ... _ _ _ _ _ _ Why are our bodies not the nights, the sad nights of the world, and while they're cleaving us up, let the rooster sing a song: God has ripped up the dark, it's getting bright! Yisroel Shtern (1894-1942):. "nokhn khirurgishn tish" [Not printed in: Lider un eseyen / tsunoyfgeshtelt fun H. Leyvik. Imprint[New York] : Tsiko, [c1955]] ************************************ How to translate a poem? The poem is called 'nokhn khirurgishn tish'. Why 'after' and not 'on' ? A first reading gives the impression that we are dealing with a description of a person under narcosis on an operation table, undergoing an operation and regaining consciousness after a near death experience. During the operation the patient retains some consciousness fluctuating between different levels. In the first part of the poem imagery and logic fight each other. We try in vain to use grammar as a lead to make some sense of the rambling train of thought. The poem starts with "The little knife knows ." Next, the subconscious takes over expressing itself first in naturalistic, later in biblical images. The surgeon becomes a magician, calling the patient back to life. At the end of the poem the patient awakens to a new dawn, to the ' after' in the title. Actually, the poet does not speak about one particular patient, but throughout the poem he uses the plural, we, our, you. We may assume that the poem was written shortly before or on the occasion of the German invasion of Poland and have to read it in its historical context. Because it is a modern poem, where far more is suggested than actually said, giving a 'correct' translation or interpretation is not possible. To illustrate this, let us return to the first verse: Literally: The little knife knows, that we are not rye and makes winter a while in the midst of the growing and orders us to be lonely; our breadth parts: between life and life strolls chloroform. Well, knives generally don't know things. This little knife is gifted with understanding and knows 'that we are not rye'. It is not only a sentient little knife, that knows things, it also acts: it makes winter and it gives orders. In the sixth verse we get some more information about the knife: We are banished into deserts . Thirsty, we drink "sleeping potion". Comes a magician and scratches us with a knife on our bellies. So, the little knife is a magic knife, a magician's knife. After having drunk a sleeping potion, or after having sniffed a dose of chloroform, the knife scratching on our bellies creates a winter, banishes us to deserts, orders us to be lonely. Since we are undergoing an operation the 'little knife' must be the scalpel in the hand of the surgeon - magician. However, having progressed this far with an interpretation of the poem, it still is not clear what the 'rye', that we are not, has got to do with it. The image is that of a field during winter. The winter rye, which had been sown in late autumn, started growing, the first few inches of growth colour the black earth with a soft green hue and now winters sets in. Frost temporally stops the growth, the rye goes into hibernation. To stay with the knife a bit longer, the poem speaks about 'cutting up' (4th verse), 'cleaving up' (9th verse) and 'scratching' (6th verse). The 'scratching', done by the magician, is followed by a spell: "You people have already been at the edge of the abyss, turn around and remember!". Next the patient or patients regains consciousness. The scratching reminds of the village 'sogerke' who would rub or scratch a sore spot, a swelling, with an object, an egg or a bone, while mumbling Tartar incantations. The poem says: We wake up in the knowledge: So early has nobody ever seen death . Regaining consciousness comes simultaneously with the realisation of having been close to death. But who is the patient and who is the surgeon? The purpose of the poem is not to describe the semi-conscious thoughts of a person undergoing an appendectomy, but to liken such an operation to the German invasion and to predict its impact on Polish Jewry. The last verse reads: Why are our bodies not the nights, The sad nights of the world, And while they cleave us up, let the rooster sing a song: God has ripped up the dark, it is getting bright! The question in the first line is rather a statement than a question, there is no question mark. The poet seems to say that God has temporarily averted his face from the world, leaving it in primordial darkness without His radiance. The 'Operation' that takes place in God's apparent absence is but the dawn of a new era in which God returns in his full glory. Desperate optimism, deep faith? Or is the question asked to express doubt that the coming events will run their course that smoothly? Two verses poignantly describe the situation at the moment of the invasion: We sleep, we sleep, like houses late at night not knowing what happens above us and: We wake up knowing, So early nobody ever Has seen death . The poet expresses in these lines how, on the one hand, the Jewish population suppressed knowledge about what was coming, pretended not to know, could not know, but on the other hand has lived with a clear premonition about the disaster about to strike for a long time. In the 4th and 5th verses the poet asks about the nature of the human condition and the purpose of the destruction. He suggests that God is angry because of the sins of his children and that His punishment aims at their future improvement. However, somewhat later in the poem the magician reminds the patients that they have already been to the edge of the Abyss and admonishes them to turn around and remember. A call to resist? We could return to other slightly obscure places in the poem. We might speculate on the exact meaning of the 'shotnde trit' and the 'veltisher hoykh' in the second verse. Are the steps of the cat throwing a shadow, or are they shadowy? Does the cat make the jump between two roofs or not? Is it 'worldly height' as opposed to 'heavenly height' or just the world from up high? We could philosophise over the meaning of 'glombike peyres' in the fourth verse. No such word is found in any Yiddish dictionary. Polish 'glab' - stalk' is a possibility, but related Yiddish 'gl(i)omp' is only used for 'cabbage stalk' and to denote a 'foolish person'. Perhaps this would be nit-picking about minor details that only provide imagery for the poem as a whole. Lucas Bruyn 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 7, 2005 Subject: Re: hakn a tshaynik [Moderator's note: for reasons too embarassing to relate a number of posts to Mendele have only recently surfaced. Our sincere apologies. They will all appear, beginning with this one from Elye Palevsky.] I believe it was Dr. Shloyme Noble (o"h) who (as an aside in a Yiddish linguistics class) remarked that the original expression was: "hankn katshanes" i.e. chopping cabbage, meaning empty prattling. As the Yiddish geography shifted so did what was heard and understood resulting in a changed phrase with a similar meaning. Elye Palevsky 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 7, 2005 Subject: Re: New World Yiddish [In reply to Mel Comisarow's post, Mendele 14.035]: We grew up in the early part of the 20th century in Edmonton and Winnipeg respectively. Neither of us ever heard the word "lokshen" in reference to Italians. Jews and Italians lived in close proximity in New York and we could understand the use of that identity there. We concur the the expression Gimelakh was used to describe immigrants from the Ukraine and surrounding areas. They constituted a large part of the population; they were recruited by representatives of the Canadian railroads to fill the vast spaces owned by them to create agricultural products for the railroads to transport. Few , if any, showed up in Eastern Canada. Obviously the Yiddish in America and Canada would be different from that spoken in Eastern Europe just as that spoken in Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine, etc were different from each other. And the Yiddish spoken in Mexico probably differs from that in other Latin American countries. Chassie & Elly Margolis 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 7, 2005 Subject: mir zenen vi feygelekh fraye Does anyone else out there know the origin of this song: mir zenen vi feygelekh fraye mir zenen vi blimelekh in feld mir zenen khaverim getraye kinder fun toyre's getzelt The next stanza begins with: mir lernen und zingen tzuzamen That's all I remember There are also a lot of tra la la's at the end of each verse. Pearl Shifer ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 14.037 Address for the postings to Mendele: mendele@lists.yale.edu Address for the list commands: listproc@lists.yale.edu