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What Am I, Poor Wretch, to Do

Τι να κάνω ο έρημος
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Lyrics
What am I, poor wretch, to do with the wife I’ve got?
In Jan’ry month and Feb’ry too she leads me off to harvest.
I reaped the corn, I threshed the crop, despite the rain and snow,
and as I stacked it up in ricks, why, icicles hung down.
I packed it in, oh woe was me, and then made tracks for home.
I found the mistress of the house inside with friends of hers,
and they were baking sweetmeats there and also frying eggs.
I put my hand out, wretched me, to help myself to one;
she grabbed the metal slice, she did, and gave my hand a thwack.
– You knave, I didn’t say you could, you pander, pimp, and ponce.
The while I’ve got my friends with me you stay outside, you see?
and only when my friends are gone can you then come inside.
The pig-swill’s in the broken crock: eat your fill and burst;
and yon’s the sty where piggy sleeps: lie down in there and kip.
Translated by John Leatham
Original Lyrics
Τι να κάνω ο έρημος
Τι να κάνω ο έρημος τη γυναίκα που ’χω.
Το Γενάρ’ και το Φλεβάρ’ με προβοδάει στο θέρο,
θέριζα, αλώνιζα, όλο βροχές και χιόνια,
κι όταν τα θημώνιαζα, όλο κρουσταλλάκια.
Κίνησα κι εγώ ο καημένους να πάω σπίτι,
βρίσκω τη νοικοκυρά μέσα με τους φίλους,
μπουγατσούδις έψηναν και αβγά τηγάν’ζαν.
Ξάμουσα1 κι εγώ ο καημένους να πάρω ένα,
σ’κών’ το σιδηρόφτυαρο, να μια στο χέρι.
– Δε σι λέω, κερατά, βρε πεζεβέγκη,
’ντά ’χω γω τους φίλους μου όξω να στέκεις,
κι όταν δεν είν’ φίλοι μου, τότε να μπαίνεις;
Να το γρουνοτζέβανο2, σκάσε και φάε,
να το γρουνοκούμασο, ψόφ’σε και πέσε!
1ξάμουσα: άπλωσα το χέρι
2γρουνοτζέβανο: κάτω μέρος σπασμένης στάμνας, όπου βάζουνε φαΐ στα γουρούνια
Information
- Region: Thrace
- Area: Evros, Kyani
- Categories: Carnival Song
- Rhythm: 2 beats
- Dance style: Hasapikos (fast)
- Duration: 03:17
Collaborators
- Singer: Vangelis Dimoudis
- Gaida (bagpipe): Theodoros Kekes
- Goblet drum: Andreas Pappas
Albums
Notes
As a type, the bad woman (lazy, greedy, a drunkard, sexually insatiable, and adulteress) was an inexhaustible source of subject matter for Carnival songs. The songs in this category have two main characteristics: outrageous exaggeration and the reversal of generally accepted masculine qualities which are projected onto women as serious shortcomings. Miranda Terzopoulou (1994)
Recording information
Live recording in the taverna 'To Monastiri', in Athens, in 1993.
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