{240.} TRANSLATION OF THE SONG TEXTS

1a) Reap, honey, reap,

I will pay you your pence;

If I should not pay you,

My dearest will.

1b) A peacock alighted

Upon the County Hall,

But brought no release

For the prisoners.

1c) Where are you off to, O orphans three?

Off into exile, I am going.

Rise up, rise up, mother dear:

My dress of mourning is torn.

II/1 A rosemary bush that grows on the snow-capped rainbow-mountain

Does not like the place (and) wants to go away,

It must be moved from there and in a new place planted.

2d) New Light was revealed,

Erring of old abated.

The Word of God way revealed

And to us was newly given.

2e) Bless us, O Lord God the Father,

Shield us, O Son of the living God, Lord Jesus Christ;

Englighten us, O Lord God the Holy Ghost, the Comforter,

This day and at all times in our lives.

III/1 Woe-unwitting as used to be,

I am with woe now sinking,

{241.} With grief am pining, wasting away.

From my Light (of Day), by the Jew,

Am sundered from my little son,

My pleasance sweet,

O my sweet little Lord,

My only little son!

Behold a weeping mother,

Help her out of her distress!

My eyes with tears do overflow,

My bosom with grief is weighed down.

With the running of thy blood

(Goes) the sinking of my heart.

O Light of Lights,

O Flower of Flowers,

Full sorely art thou being tortured,

(With) iron nails driven into (thy limbs).

Woe is me, O my son

(That art) sweet as honey!

Thy beauty diminishes,

Thy blood is running out of thee like water.

O Death, carry thou me off,

(And) let my only one live,

Let my little Lord remain

(And) may the world fear Him!

2a) Gracious Mistress of the angels,

Glorious Mother of Lord Jesus,

Queen of Heaven,

Open Gates of Paradise.

2b) This day into high Heaven

Into an angelic beautiful and happy home,

Was the Virgin received, in bridal state,

Into the splendid abode of God.

2c) Queen of the angels,

Glorious Mother of Lord Jesus,

August Mistress of Heaven,

Open Gates of Paradise.

2d) Ye lieutenants that are in the armies,

Ye that hold the Christian faith,

If ye wish your cause to win,

Listen to this and learn what follows.

{242.} 2e) Behind the gardens of Bolhás, Kata,

Many are the paths, Kata,

Every swain does one thing:

He goes through it to his love, Kata.

3a) After the accession of many kings

King Ahab became the king,

Who did not walk with God,

But openly served the god Baal.

3b) Remember, O Lord, what is come upon us:

Consider, and behold our reproach.

For all our sins, O Lord, we are chastised by thee,

Therefore we need to cry out unto thee day and night.

4 Let us abide by the true faith unto the last,

Though we have to live in poverty on this earth,

Endure much disgrace for its sake; for finally we must die.

5 Do not come to see me, darling, in the night,

I can see you better in daytime, (so) come (then).

If you will visit in daytime,

I shall fear no one;

People who’ll be envious,

You’d better steer clear of them.

6 A duckling is bathing in a black pool,

Preparing to join its mother in Poland.

IV/1 Gaffer, gaffer, which is the way to Becskerek?

Master, master, this is the way to Becskerek.

2a) Come, let us remember the wondrous power of Eternal God

By which He brought the Magyars of yore out of Scythia

and brought them into Hungary

As he had earlier brought the Jewish people out of distress,

from king Pharaoh’s grip.

2b) Come, let us now remember the great things (that came to pass),

The great peace of the sons of God

And the strong faith of our forefathers,

So we may never forget those things.

2c) In olden times, under the Old Law, there was in Jerusalem

A mighty king, grand and haughty,

{243.} Who callously ordered all Jews

To be put to death.

Forgive me, O Lord God, the sins of my youth,

My many unbelieving way and loathsome iniquities.

Obliterate its hideousness (and) all its treachery,

Ease the burden on my soul.

I worship thee, O invisible Deity,

Humanity concealed in the shape of bread

Although human sensitivity cannot observe

Thy presence.

We worship three, O invisible Deity,

Humanity concealed in the shape of bread

Although human sensitivity cannot observe

Thy presence.

3a) Ye many drunkards, listen to (this rhyme about) your morals

About the sin you committed in your drunkenness against

God.

For you are apt to forget your God.

3b) Hark ye to a miracle, one of many miracles,

(Of) How ye have lost Temesvár of the Marches,

In it you have lost good István Losonczi

Along with many brave warriors; feel ye sorrow for his death.

3c) Ye Hungarians, worship ye God,

And be ye deeply grateful unto Him;

Especially ye who dwell this side of the Tisza:

Speak many kind things to the brave defenders of Eger.

I laid me down on the high plateau,

My little bay mare was stolen from my side;

She’s been stolen, but it’s no grave loss:

A hundred melons will yield up her price.

4a) Argirus wanders over hill and dale,

Across woods and over crags and in dreary places.

He wanders alone, save one servant

Whom he takes with him as travelling companion.

4b) Fearful disaster has overtaken Pannonia;

Like swelling waves of the ocean

{244.} By the flood of much trouble and sorrow is she surrounded,

For one of ther heroes has perished to-day.

5a) Sorrowful is my parting from thee,

O blessed Hungary, I must bid farewell to thee;

Who knows when I shall dwell in fair Buda (again)?

5b) Who would not believe, or who would hate,

Her mellifluous, amorous speech

And protestations,

Seeing her tears and her submissive lovely form?

She certainly would deceive whoever he may be

That does not know her artful ways.

VI/1c) Return at last from your hiding

And may you find release at long last,

My grief-consumed soul.

I find no good in anything now,

Since damage has been done to my heart.

The tide may turn yet,

The danger pass,

(Nothing matters but that) you stay alive, stay alive,

And remain in good health.

1d) Whither away, my love, fleeing from me, fleleing from me?

Who will pity you in the strange lands?

Who, if you happen to fall sick, will take care of you?

2 Sad it was for me

To have been born into this world,

Since I have to suffer things

I hoped not to know.

3r) Little birdie Argirus will not alight on every treebranch

VII/1a) The time is come, the world is fulfilled;

Hail, Mary, Blessed Virgin,

Mother of God, gold of our hearts,

Holy Patroness of Hungary.

Comfort thou our nation,

Lift up our hearts to thee,

Accept this our praise with a good heart.

1b) O Jesus, lovely rose born of a virgin

Whom my heart finds placed in a crib;

{245.} O Jesus, my Holy Betrothed,

Be present in my heart, my darling Beloved.

2 O Day of grief, of lamentation

And of black mourning, of heart-rending sorrow!

What a multitude bewail and bitterly weep

And grieve for the death of such a noble lord.

3a) When Jesus’ mother, the Blessed Virgin,

Stood weeping at the cross,

Seeing how great was the agony

Of her dying holy Son,

Lamenting, she spake thus,

Lamenting, she spake thus.

3b) Let us praise anew the Apostle Saint Peter

By celebrating his feast with good cheer.

We long to go to thee,

Jesus our Saviour.

Have mercy upon us,

Be our redeemer.

O Saint Peter, absolve us of our sins,

Ask the Lord’s forgiveness for our sins.

Jesus, Holy Son of God, Saviour of sinners.

5 O Lord, have mercy on us, Christ, have mercy.

O Heavenly Father, have mercy on us.

O Mary, holy Mother of God, pray for us sinners,

O Mary, precious lovely rose.

VIII/1 Soldiers are no longer esteemed as highly

As the kuruc fighters were in olden times.

Is it befitting to dignity

That our youth, young Hungarians, are held in low esteem?

Come lads, let us join the army,

Let us pass in merriment the days of this wretched world.

We have good times, a splendid life, couldn’t be better:

So come and join the army all who love us.

When the noble Castle of Huszt, in Máramaros,

Was under our dominion –

Then was Hungary a mighty power.

{246.} (Then) I saw with these eyes of mine

The honoured German in his trunk-breeches

Run for dear life.

Woe betide us Hungarians,

Who have risen in rebellion,

(Woe betide) the bald skulls of István Zákány, Mátyás Szuhay,

A nation of Hungarians with capacious pipes but scant tobacco.

Kecskemét turns out her dashing recruits,

Raises her red standard outside the inn.

Come here, young men, enlist:

Eight years will not last for ever.

The brave cavarly have a good time,

Dining and wining in their tents, with not a care in the world,

Oh, what a life, what splendid life! One couldn’t wish for a better life.

Let only those who love me join the army.

I too lived at one time as it pleased me,

I thought my luck was happiness,

Bnut do you see what trouble I have come to? Don’t you pity me?

My luck , my cheerful spirits are banished from me.

2a) Rákóczi, Bezerédi,

Famous leaders of the Hungarians,

Ah! Alas! O Hungarian nation,

You are withering away like flowers,

Gripped in the talons, the talons of the Eagle,

You are withering away like flowers.

2b) Ah! Rákóczi, Bercsényi,

Noble leaders of the Hungarian heroes!

Their picked warriors,

What has become of them? Where have they gone?

Great Hungarian warriors of old –

What has become of them?

They who were respected by all other nations,

And, indeed, whose very names were dreaded?

{247.} Oh, where are they?

Once their fame was spread abroad everywhere among the nations.

Poor Hungarian people,

When will you be whole?

You have become as Fragments.

Poor Hungarian people,

When will you be whole?

You have become as Fragments.

Ah! Rákóczi, Bercsényi, Bezerédi,

Noble leaders of Hungarian heroes!

Their picked warriors –

What has become of them? Where have they gone?

Alas! Poor Hungarian people,

The enemy tears and rends you:

To what state you have been reduced, perishable Fragments!

You have been reduced to Fragments.

Gripped in the talons of the Eagle,

You are withering away like flowers

Poor Hungarian people,

When will you be whole?

Listen, Hungarians, to what I am going to tell you.

Tell me, warriors, what shall I do?

The raving German comes sacking and pillaging, chasing all and burning all;

Alas! What am I to do?

IX/1a) I have come to journey’s end,

(To the end of) my pilgrimage in this world.

I have kept my faith, my true religion.

Come, Jesus Christ, give me my crown.

1b) I am filled with sorrow that you should want to go away,

All my days I shall feel sorry for (the loss of) your person.

I must give myself up to death,

Must sacrifice myself for you,

Sweet love.

2a) Like a little nightingale, my soft, flowing song,

Hum away like a honey-making little bee.

{248.} I fell asleep on the meadowy bank of a river,

I fell asleep on the meadowy bank of a river.

There are three kinds of flower in the wheatfield:

The foremost among them is the fair cornflower.

2b) The King of Prussia is justly angry

That the enemy is campaigning in his country.

His neighbour is plundering his fine castles, fortresses, and people,

The King of Prussia is justly angry.

2c) Oh, lilies, of the valley,

Full-blown carnations,

Budding marjorams.

If I were allowed to enter your garden

And to pick red roses,

My heart would be revived.

3a) The course of my gilded times,

The cheer of my heart,

Has turned to iron, to sadness,

My every mood inclines to sorrow,

Because I’ll have to part with you,

Bid farewell to you.

3b) Leave me alone, turbulent one, O,

When you are not useful, good, O,

Oh, oh, you tormenter of my heart, O,

Cease, mischief-maker, O.

3c) You who fly over woods and fields,

Come back, sweet-singing lovely falcon,

Let your fine wings relax,

Let your tired legs stop.

You wound my heart, you blight my jolly spirits,

You shorten my life, because, for you,

I am ready to lay down my life.

4a) Now you may go,

I dont’t want you any more,

For deceitful is your heart,

It has deceived me.

(Go and) live blithely henceforth,

Treacherous bird.

{249.} A, B, C, D,

He began to practise on me

His great cleverness,

His great intelligence,

A, B, C, D,

He began to practise on me.

4b) My little angel,

My lovely birdie,

Here, I have come flying to you,

So as to please you,

Upon your hands,

Like a falcon I have alighted.

Go on, do it,

Go on, act,

You should judge it as my heart;

Darling,

Love,

I am your slave, my gracious one.

5 I am not si-si-si-sick,

Am only l-l-l-love-lorn.

I love my l-l-l-love:

She torments my h-h-h-heart.

My dear neighbur-bur-bur-bour,

Give me a handful of l-l-l-lentils,

For which a gipsy wu-wu-wu-woman

Will tell me my good fo-fo-fo-fortune.

X/3a) I celestial form

That playest with mortals,

Deceitful, blind Hope

That appearest a Deity,

Whom unhappy men

Create for themselves

And worship without ceasing

As their guardian angel.

Why dost thou with honeyed lips flatter me?

Why dost thou still raise in my bosom

A dubious heart?

Stay far away and keep to thy own devices:

At first you encouraged me,

I believed your pretty words,

But you have deceived me.

{250.} 3b) True mother, Hungarian homeland, there are no doubt a thousand reasons

Why I am taking great pains to obtain your maternal love.

Those to whom you give shelter feast off roast meat and wine,

And you also give them enough milk and oil.

Whoever has once tasted your bread

Will repudiate his own country for your sake.

I therefore embrace her,

Since she has shared with me such of her treasures,

I supplicate (the Lord) that this favour be granted me to the end (of my days);

More even, if I am at last

Buried in the clods of my country’s earth –

Only then and there shall I be lying on a soft bed.

XIII/1 My forebears gave

Many heroes to this woeful homeland.

All the same I am forgotten,

(And) upon this rock lie buried

Lie buried.

3a) O my little son, Hush! Hush!

Don’t arouse him from his sleep!

Seelp quietly, sweetly, my angel, my angel.

Sleep quietly, sweetly, my angel, Oh my angel, Oh.

Come down from heavens.

And protect my poor child, Oh guardian angel.

Ah, in happier times you used to sleep on my bosom

And, waking from your dream, would smile on me, angel.

Sleep quietly, ah, sleep quietly,

Ah, dream sweetly!

Ah, dream, my celestial angel!

2b) The world has four corners,

Our country has four enemies;

One external, one internal,

When one rests, another rises.

Alas! they are attacking on every hand.

One is the Turkish warrior,

Another the Italian coaster

A third is the Polish neighbour,

The fourth is found here, within, far and wide;

Alas! That is the worst threat.

We woiuld defeat the one,

Drive the other away,

{251.} The third would be put to flight,

If the fourth were not there.

Ah, if he would be reconciled!

Turk and Tartar are wicked foes,

Pole and Italian are strong fighters;

(Yet) you cannot be vanquished by (any or) all of them,

O Hungarian nation, only by your own arms,

Alas! that alone causes your undoing!

XIV/1 A branch of the weeping willow droops over a flower;

You are breaking my heart, pretty daughter of the village.

You are breaking my heart, but you do not care:

You have a lovelier flower than I am.

2 There is but one lovely girl in all the world:

My dainty rose, my dove.

God loves me very much

Because He has given you to me.

Last night I went to pluck feathers,

my rose spied upon me;

She pesters me about

Who I was talking with last night.

XV/2 Thou art our One God, righteous in judgment,

Vengeance is Thine for those that do evil,

Thou shalt not bless them, trusting in vain things,

Thou shalt take them away as with a whirlwind.

As for the righteous, Thou dost preserve them,

They that shew mercy shelter find in Thee.

Those that are humble Thou dost raise on high.

Those that are mighty scatter’st and destroyest.

Whom for a space Thy wrath has chastised,

And has like silver tried in the furnace.

Forth from the fire Thou suddenly tak’st him,

Once more in honour Thou wilt raise him on high!

These words King David wrote in his Psalter,

Fifty and fifth of prayers and of praises,

And for the faithful bitterly grieving,

As consolation, I from it made this song.

(Psalmus Hungaricus
translated by Edward J. Dent)