Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 15.001 May 15, 2005 1) Mendele vert a khosn-bokher (di dray shamosim) 2) Motele (Felicitas Payk) 3) Yisroel Shtern translation project (Andrew Firestone) 4) ikh vil nisht keyn ayzerne keytn (Hershl Hartman) 5) Songs from childhood (Elisa Steinberg) 6) pishn boyml (Lucas Braun) 7) Land measurement (Ruth Rischall) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: May 15, 2005 Subject: Mendele vert a khosn-bokher נײן, ס'רעדט זיך נאָר אַזױ. אָנגעטאָן לאַנגע הױזן יאָ, שידוכים--דאָס נאָך נישט. אָבער מזל־טובֿ אונדז אַלע. יעצט קענען מיר זיך דורכשרײַבן מיט ייִדישע אותיות (און אַפֿולו אַרײַנלעגן אַן אוקרײַניש װאָרט אױף אוקרײַניש, א.א.װ.). מע דאַרף נאָר װעלן. ס'איז אונדז יעדעס יאָר אַ װוּנדער װאָס מיר האָבן דערלעבט נאָך אַ געבורטסטאָג. מיר מענדעליסטן זענען דאָך אַזאַ פֿאַרשידענע חבֿרה׃ רעכטע, לינקע; גאַנץ פֿרומע, צוביסלעך פֿרומע, אפּיקורסים; ייִדן, ניט־ייִדן. און נאָך מער׃ אין 14 יאָר האָט מען נאָך נישט דערמאָנט אַז דער איז אַ דאָקטאָר און דער צװײטער אַ קרעמער. אױס טיטלען! כּולנו פּראָפֿעסאָרים! כּולנו יודעים את היידיש! אָבער—אַ דאַנק גאָט— נישט אַלע זקנים. ס'איז נאָך דאָ צײַט צו װאַקסן. װיקטאָר בערס יוסף װײַסמאן נח מילער neyn, s’redt zikh nor azoy. Ongeton lange hoyzn yo, shidukhim—dos nokh nisht. Ober mazel-tov undz ale. Yetst kenen mir zikh durkhshraybn mit yidishe oysyes (un afile araynlegn an ukraynish vort oyf ukraynish, u.a.v.). Me darf nor veln. S’iz undz yedes yor a vunder voz mir hobn derlebt nokh a geburtstog. Mir Mendelistn zenen dokh aza farshiden khevre: rekhte, linke; gants frume, tsubislekh frume, apikorsim; yidn, nit-yidn. Un nokh mer: in 14 yor hot men nokh nishr dermant az der iz a doktor un der tseyter a kremer. Oys titlen! Kulanu profesorim! Kulanu yoydim es ha-yidish. Ober—a dank got-- nisht ale zkeynim. S’iz nokh do tsayt oyf tsu vaksn. Victor Bers Iosif Vaysman Noyekh Miller 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: May 10, 2005 Subject: Re: Motele Gershon Katz fregt in Mendele (Vol. 14.053) oyb emetser veyst di verter funem lid Motele, spetsyel dem entfer af zayn tates sheltn. Ikh hob gefunen ot dos lid af a kompaktl fun Lin Jaldati, a yidishe zingerke vos shtamt fun Holland: nisht emes, tate, s'iz nor koym aroys, a shtikl shoyb, me ken tsukleybn. ikh yog zikh nisht, ikh kuk zikh tsu nor bloyz, vi sheyn di taybelekh zikh shvebn. Vi fray zey shpringen zikh arum in hoyf, vi sheyn di kerntlekh zey pikn, vi shnel zey gebn zikh a loz aroyf, ven zey a fremdn toyb derblikn. in der nusekh fun Lin Jaldati heyst es oykh: Host nekhtn, Motl, vider mit a shteyn dem shokhn shoybn oysgeshlogn. dos iz a bisl andersh vi Gershon Katz hot es gezogt. ikh aleyn hob zeyer lib ot dos lid. kol tov, Felicitas Payk Hannover, Germany 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: May 11, 2005 Subject: Yisroel Shtern Translation Project Tayere Mendelyaner, The Centre for Jewish Civilization, Monash University, Melbourne is gathering the essays and poetry of Yisroel Shtern (Israel Stern), who died in Poland in 1942 or 1943, recently discussed on Mendele, for English translation. Any material not in his collected works (CYCO, 1955) would be very much appreciated and will be acknowledged. It would be appreciated if any stakeholder or anyone with information about literary heirs or stakeholders would contact me. Similar information is also requested with regard to H. Leyvick's essay and poem which introduce Shtern's work in his book. A hartsikn dank aykh Andrew Firestone 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: April 11, 2005 Subject: Re: ikh vil nisht keyn ayzerne keytn Lucas Bruyn's suggestion (Vol. 14.053) for the first verse of Vladeck's poem (BTW, not a Partisan poem) is inappropriate. The confusion stems from misreading of knekhtshaft as "servitude." It is actually "slavery" and could not, thus, be "slavery to god himself." While the pious may speak of serving the deity, I doubt that anyone speaks of being enslaved to it. It would be good to have a translation of the poem that conforms to the meter and rhyme pattern of the original -- but that applies, as well, to all translations of Yiddish poetry. Otherwise, even the "best" is no more than a prosaic rendering, not a translation. One wonders whether translations into English of rhymed, rhythmic poetry from other languages is allowed the "freedom" to ignore the poetic genius of the authors for the convenience of the renderers. Hershl Hartman 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: May 11, 2005 Subject: Songs from childhood Could anyone help me remember two of my childhood songs that ... never mind, it just means my parents used to sing one of them with a slightly different tune from what I had learned in the yidishe shul in Uruguay. But I am not asking for the tunes. a) mazldiker hoz, mazldiker hoz falstu nit oyfn seykhl, falstu oyf dem noz... gey ich zumer bodn trink ich zikh in taikh gey ikh vinter glitchn tu ikh faln glaykh shpil ikh in milkhome trefst zikh mir aleyn khap ikh in di zaytn glaikh/?bald them ershtn shteyn b) dos iz emes, dos iz emes dos iz emes alts geven, dos iz emes, dos iz emes, dos hob ikh aleyn gezen. zumer ovnt in der fri iz a shney gegangen un fun a farbrentn shtroy is a ku gehangen. dos iz emes... oyf a boym getantst a sher hobn gendz un tsign un di kats hot sikh gezetst oyzmilkn di flign. dos iz emes...... s'hot a pave ayngeshpant hekht a por in tseber un ba Yoyshken afn noz hengt a lung un leber. Elisa Steinberg Uruguay/Chicago 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: May 11, 2005 Subject: Re: pishn boyml װעגן "פּישן מיט בױמל": בערנשטיין גיט דעם אױסדרוק אונטער נומער :134 אױסעלאַסענע און גראָָבע שׁפּריכווערטער: דער נָגיד פּישׁט ניט מיט בוימעל, און קאַקט ניט מיט גריווען. לוקאַס ברױן Ignaz Bernstein git dem oysdruk unter numer 134: oysgelasene un grobe shprikhverter: "der nogid pisht nit boymel, un kakt nit mit griven." Lucas Braun 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: May 13, 2005 Subject: Land measurement I have a copy of the yizkor book for Ruzhany, my mother's home town and I am translating a Yiddish chapter for the benefit of my children and grandchildren. It seems that Tsar Nicolai the first gave permission to a few families to settle on the land and do farming. This was in 1850 and he granted to each family 20 units of land. The word for the unit of land was diesyatin (daled, yod, eyin, samech, yod, tet, yod, nun). Does anybody know how much land that was? What is diesyatin? I would appreciate an answer. Ruth Rischall ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 15.001 Posts to Mendele Messages to the shamosim Technical problems