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A maid was seeing her husband off to foreign parts
holding a candle out for him to see,
tankards of wine for him to drink.
And as the wine poured forth, the words did too:
– You’re leaving, Konstantinos my love,
what would you have me do?
[– For one month leave your hair unwashed,
for one year your clothes unchanged,
and for thirty years, don’t set foot outside the door.
A month went by and it was time to wash her hair,
a year went by and it was time to change her clothes,
thirty years went by and it was time to set foot outside the door,
so she took up the good jug and the silver chain.
Along the way, she met a handsome horseman:
– Maid, pray draw a little water for a thirsty man,
so me, my steed and hounds may drink.
She raised the pail one and forty times,
but raised her gaze not once.
Drawing the forty second, she wiped a tear from her eye.
– Maid, what saddens you, why wipe you tears away?
If it is the water or the well you weep for,
if it is your toil, then I shall pay you for it.
– It’s not the water that I weep for, nor the well,
nor my labours that they be rewarded.
It is my husband, away these thirty years in a foreign land.
– Describe him, I may have chanced on him along my way.
– He was slim of build, as you are slim of build.
– Late last night I saw him laid out upon the plain,
black birds were eating him, white ones circling overhead,
and one bird, a good bird, had not the heart to eat.
‘Good bird, eat. Feast, too, upon those manly shoulders
so your feathers and claws grow long.
Just leave me my tongue and my right hand,
as I would write a letter to my mother
for her to read and my fair bride to weep over,
for my bride to read and my loved ones to weep over.’
The tears flooded down her face but now she let them flow.
She raised her sad eyes and they knew one another there and then
and kissed and locked in an embrace.]

Translated by Michael Eleftheriou

Verses were added from Αρ. Κριάρης, Κρητικά άσματα, Chania 1909, pp. 204-206.

Μια κόρη συναπόβγανε

Ε-νε, μια κό- μια κόρη συ- ε, μια κόρη συναπόβγανε
μια κόρη συ- μια κόρη συναπόβγανε
ε, τον άντρα ντζη, άντρα ντζη στα ξένα,

κρατεί κερί και φέγγει του, ποτήρια και κερνά τον
κι όσα ποτήρια τον κερνά τόσα λόγια του λέει:
– Μισεύγεις Κωσταντίνο μου κι ίντα μου παραγγένεις;
[– Α λείπω μήνα μη λουστείς και χρόνο μην αλλάξεις
κι α λείπω το ντραντράχρονο1 στην πόρτα μην προβάλεις.
Ήρθεν ο μήνας να λουστεί κι ο χρόνος για ν’ αλλάξει,
ήρθε και το ντραντράχρονο στην πόρτα να προβάλει.
Και παίρνει το καλό σταμνί και τ’ αργυρ’ αλυσίδι.
Στη στράτα τση συναπαντά όμορφος καβαλάρης.
– Κόρη κι ανάσυρε νερό να πιει το διψασμένο,
να πιω εγώ κι ο μαύρος μου και τα λαγωνικά μου.
Σαράντα δυο σταμνιά ’συρε και δεν αναντρανίζει2
κι απάνω στα σαράντα δυο τ’ αμμάθια ντση σφουγγίζει.
– Κόρη τι ’χεις και θλίβιεσαι, τ’ αμμάθια σου σφουγγίζεις;
Κόρη, κι αν κλαις για το νερό κι αν κλαις για το πηγάδι
κι αν κλαις ογιά τον κόπο σου, εγώ σου τα πλερώνω.
– Δεν κλαίω ’γώ για το νερό μηδέ για το πηγάδι
μηδέ και για τον κόπο μου για να μου τα πλερώσεις
μόν’ έχ’ άντρα στην ξενιθιά, λείπει τριάντα χρόνους.
– Για πε μου τα σουσούμια3 ντου μπορέτως και τον είδα.
– Λιγνός ήτον εις το κορμί σαν και τον απατό σου.
– Οψές αργά τον ηύρηκα στον κάμπο ξαπλωμένο,
μαύρα πουλιά τον τρώγανε κι άσπρα τον τριγυρίζαν
κι ένα μπουλί, καλό μπουλί, δεν ήθελε να φάει.
Φάγε κι εσύ καλό μπουλί απ’ αντρειωμένου πλάτες
να κάμεις πήχη τα φτερά και πιθαμή τ’ ανύχι.
– Άστε πουλιά τη γλώσσα μου και τη δεξιά μου χέρα
θέλω να κάμω μια γραφή τση μάνας μου να μπέψω,
να τη διαβάζ’ η μάνα μου να κλαίει η ξαθή μου,
να τη διαβάζει η ξαθή να κλαιν οι γ-εδικοί μου.
Τ’ αμμάθια ντση ετρέχανε, κάνει να τα σφουγγίξει
κι αναντρανίζει θλιβερά κι ευτύς εγνωριστήκαν,
ο γ-εις τον άλλο φίλησε κι εσφιχταγκαλιαστήκαν.]

1ντραντράχρονο: τριαντάχρονο
2αναντρανίζει: σηκώνει το βλέμμα, κοιτάζει
3σουσούμια: χαρακτηριστικά, τα γνωρίσματά του

Οι στίχοι συμπληρώθηκαν από το Αρ. Κριάρης, Κρητικά άσματα, Χανιά 1909, σ. 204-206.

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Notes

Another song belonging to the large and popular category of ‘recognitions’ (see also songs A trader made his way, Three lords a-sitting, A little shorty (Meli, Erithraia, Asia Minor), A little shorty (Skiathos)). A husband returns after a prolonged absence. Rendered unrecognizable by the passage of time, he meets his unsuspecting wife and uses various gambits to confirm her fidelity and undying love. Reassured, he reveals his identity and she, uncertain still, asks for proof: the hidden marks only he could know. The longed-for recognition brings with it closure.

Academics have long debated the significant similarities between this song and the verses in the Odyssey describing Odysseus returning home and being recognized by Penelope, with some arguing that the Homeric epic was spread, recast in songs like these, by wandering bards. However, I. Th. Kakridis dates the recognition motif to a pre-Homeric poetic layer, in which case Homer and the songs alike drew on the same universal oral folk tradition. (See also the song, Dawn glowed in the East.) Miranda Terzopoulou (2008)

Recording information

Studio recording, 2006.

Domna Samiou taped the song in Lakki, Chania, in 1965.

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