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Του μικρού βλαχόπουλου
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Lyrics
Young Kostantinos and brave Alexis
and the young Vlach who fought in castles
the three were eating and drinking
and sweetly singing all together,
and had their horses tied together to the same block of wood.
Kostantinos' horse ate iron, Alexis' horse ate rocks
and the young Vlach's horse could uproot trees.
As they were eating and drinking and singing sweetly together,
a little bird came and perched upon the block's right side.
It didn't sing like a bird or like a swallow,
it spoke with a human voice.
- Here you are, eating, drinking and sweetly singing,
while Saracen corsairs pillage behind your backs.
They've taken Kostantinos' children, Alexis' wife
and the girl who would wed the young Vlach.
[Before Kostantinos had saddled his horse,
before Alexis had mounted his,
the young Vlach was already galloping away.
- Hey, young Vlach, get down to the watchtower and take a look.
If you see fifty or a hundred men, dash down and slaughter them.
If you see more, come back and we'll go all together.
So he rode to the watchtower and took a look, gazing down upon the vastness.
He saw the plains red and the mountains blue
and was ashamed to go back and afraid to march forward.
- Steed of mine, will you swim through rivers of blood?
- Master, I will swim through rivers of blood.
He brought the whip down and they burst onto the plain.
Leaping down, he killed a thousand,
leaping back he slew two thousand more,
and when he made his final turn, there were no foes left alive.
He took back Costas' children and Alexis' wife
and the young Vlach's bride-to-be.]
Translated by Michael Eleftheriou
Original Lyrics
Του μικρού βλαχόπουλου
Ωρέ, ν-ο Κωσταντί-, ν-ο Κωσταντίνος ο μικρός
ωρέ, ν-ο Κωσταντίνος ο μικρός κι Αλέξης ο αντρειωμένος,
κι Αλέξης ο αντρειωμένος
ωρέ, και το μικρό- και το μικρό Βλαχόπουλο,
ωρέ, και το μικρό Βλαχόπουλο, ο καστροπολεμίτης,
ο καστροπολεμίτης,
αντάμα τρώγαν κι έπιναν και γλυκοτραγουδούσαν,
αντάμα είχαν τους μαύρους τους, σ' έναν ταβλά δεμένους.
Του Κώστα τρώει τα σίδερα, τ' Αλέξη τα λιθάρια
και του μικρού Βλαχόπουλου, τα δέντρα ξεριζώνει.
Κι εκεί που τρώγαν κι έπιναν και γλυκοτραγουδάνε,
πουλάκι πάησε κι έκατσε δεξιά μεριά στην τάβλα.
Δεν εκελάηδει σαν πουλί, μούιδε σαν χελιδόνι,
παρά λαλούσε κι έλεγεν ανθρώπινη κουβέντα.
- Ν-εσείς τρώτε και πίνετε και γλυκοτραγουδάτε
και πίσω σας κουρσεύουνε Αγαρηνοί κουρσάροι.
Πήραν του Κώστα τα παιδιά, τ' Αλέξη τη γυναίκα
και του μικρού Βλαχόπουλου την αρραβωνιασμένη.
[Ως να σελώσ' ο Κωσταντής, να καλιβώσ' Αλέξης,
ευρέθη το Βλαχόπουλο στο μαύρο τ' καβαλάρης.
- Για σύρ' εσύ Βλαχόπουλο στη βίγλα να βιγλίσεις
κι αν δεις πενήντα κι εκατό, χύσου μακέλεψέ τους
κι αν είναι περισσότεροι, γύρνα να πάμ' αντάμα.
Βγήκε στη βίγλα, βίγλισε, στ' αγνάντιο κι αγναντεύει,
βλέπει τους κάμπους κόκκινους και τα βουνά γαλάζια.
Πίσω να πάει ντρέπεται, μπροστά να πάει δειλιάται.
- Δύνεσαι, μαύρε μ', δύνεσαι στο αίμα για να πλέψεις;
- Δύνομ', αφέντη μ', δύνομαι στο αίμα για να πλέψω.
Βιτσιά βαρεί το μαύρο του, ξεχύνεται στον κάμπο,
στο έμπα χίλιους έκοψε, στο έβγα δυο χιλιάδες
και στο στερνό του γύρισμα κανέναν δεν αφήνει.
Πήρε του Κώστα τα παιδιά, τ' Αλέξη τη γυναίκα
και του μικρού Βλαχόπουλου την αρραβωνιασμένη.]
Information
- Region: Epirus
- Area: Preveza, Kerasovo
- Categories: Acritic Song
- Rhythm: 3 beats
- Dance style: Sta tria
- Duration: 05:21
Collaborators
- Singer: Lambros Goumenos
- Informant (source of the song): Lambros Goumenos
Albums
Notes
We could call this song the epitome of bravery - what would be called chivalry in the West -, because it summarizes every heroic ‘akritic’ stereotype: a lavish feast attended by warriors with names that mark them out for glory and with unspecified lineages, bird-messengers, steed-counsellors, countless invaders, pillage and abductions, desperate fights and inconceivable victories. The horror of incursions of this, which tormented entire peoples for centuries and left their mark on collective memory, render the identity of the invaders and the location of the battles virtually irrelevant. Whether the pirates are mediaeval Saracens or later Turks - their identity varies from version to version -, they will turn everyone's world upside-down, and whether it's a voice from heaven or a supernatural bird that announces that their fragile life is in turmoil yet again and incites the superhuman feat to come, the song exudes a tunelessly ‘historic’ reality. Miranda Terzopoulou (2017)
Recording information
Lambros Goumenos, who sings, a teacher from Kerasovo, Preveza, in the 1980s, taped songs from his native area and gave them to Domna Samiou for inclusion in her archive.