Friday, July 20, 2007

Drobna drabnitsa...

Very, very, very tired and it is Friday evening. Wiki offers the following for a Belarusaian folk song. I have no idea what the real music is but it sounds cool when playing standard Russian chords and singing along. Yes, Wiki was right it is a drinking song but, uh, the theme is a little different from how their translation goes. Enjoy. Cheers! Na Zdarov! Lachaim! Shabot Shalom!

Дробна драбніца, дробна драбніца,
Дробны дождж ідзе.
Ой, сабралася бедна галота
Дый гарэлку п’е.

— П’ём мы гарэлку, п’ём мы гарэлку
Будзем піць віно.
А хто к нам прыйдзе, будзе смяяцца,
Будзем біць таго.

Ой, прыйшоў дзядзька, дзядзька багаты
Насміхаецца:
— А скуль жа гэта бедна галота
Напіваецца?

Ой ты не смейся, дзядьку багаты
Ты не смейся з нас,
Вазьмі у рукі чарку гарэлкі,
Выпі ты да нас.

— Рад бы я выпіць, рад бы я з’есці,
Рад бы закусіць.
Сто рублёў маю, сто рублёў маю,
Недзе размяніць.

У цябе сотні, а ў нас драбніца,
Дык не смейся з нас.
Ідзі ты к чорту, дзядзька багаты,
Ідзі ты к чорту ад нас!

Адзін за ругі, другі за ногі,
Трэці ў карак б’е:
— Ой, не йдзі, не йдзі, дзядзька багаты,
Дзе галота п’е!
Trifle of trifles, trifle of trifles
A trifling rain comes down
Oh poor drunkards gather together
And drink some vodka

We're drinking vodka, we're drinking vodka,
Gonna drink some wine
And if someone dares to mock us,
We will laugh and beat him down

Here comes an uncle, a rich old uncle.
Laughing:
From where do poor people like these
Get drunk?

Oh you are not laughing rich uncle,
You are not laughing at us
Take in your hand a cup of vodka
And have a drink to us

I'd be glad to drink, be glad to eat
Be glad for a little morsel
I have 100 rubles, I have 100 rubles,
But there is nowhere to change it.

You have 100 but we have trifles
So, please don't laugh at us
Go to hell rich uncle
Go to hell from us!

One guy takes your hands, another takes your feet
A third will crack your head
Oh, don't go, don't go rich uncle
Where the poor people are drninking!


More soon...

4 Comments:

Blogger Mary Ellen said...

Great song...not so great for the rich uncle, poor guy...

Friday, July 20, 2007  
Blogger BEING HAD said...

I have to tell you that I put a lot of work into this. Much more than I had originally intended. The word гарэлку –Harleka- gave us a problem because though it is basically the translation of vodka, the original translation wanted to say spirits or homemade vodka. As this was an old song though, the odds of poor people drinking factory vodka was pretty dim and this led me to want to call it the other way. Inevitably though we decided vodka was vodka no matter who made it- so, harelka = vodka. Probably the most interesting word I had a problem with was Дык (Dik) from the second to last stanza. It is not an obvious word in Belarusian dictionaries online or otherwise. I found an interesting and funny essay which was basically about the word HERE. The essay though never actually explains what the word is except in a mock-metaphysical sense. After maybe two hours of searching, Tatyana guessed that basically it is an old version of 'tak', which is so, or yes (it is a Polish yes). When we approached it from this angle, from the Russian word first, we actually found it in a Russian/Belarusian dictionary. Afterward, we are all gabbing in Belarusian and of course, starting all our sentences with Дык…

Sunday, July 22, 2007  
Blogger steven rix said...

Cheers to the song!

Monday, July 23, 2007  
Anonymous Arden-Arcade Awnings said...

Apprecciate you blogging this

Monday, November 07, 2022  

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