Can you help me with translating this Greek song?

2 comments

1. It’s really, really hard to translate this particular song because it has such a heavy island/cretan dialect. It’s about a young teacher named Afousis who lived in Greece under otoman rule. He was from Kasos, an island in the Dodecanese region of Greece, and he went to visit some relatives in Crete only to see the turks slaughter them. Seeing the massacre he went mad, he quit being a teacher and became a beggar, walking around Kasos barefoot with a pair of pants full of holes, wearing multiple hats, carrying an empty basket and walking his dog Leontaros (which means Lion in Greek). Despite being driven mad he never hurt a fly and people loved to include him in their parties because he loved to tell his stories in rhyme. It is said that when he felt he was dying he fell asleep in some ruins and the local children found him and carried him to nearest coffee place (kafeneio, a staple of greek vilalges to this day) where the entire village wept.

   [Here’s](https://www.keeplife.gr/2020/09/blog-post_5.html) a blogpost about him with a photo of him

   I tried my best but, as I said, the dialect is very heavy and very difficult to make sense of even as a Greek native so the translation is very freeform:

   A boat is coming,

   to say it or not to (*2)

   and it’s close to docking (*)

   Oh Afousis, oh manly man

   pallare pallara man (I don’t know what pallare means, perhaps some old island dialect left of from when italians lived there, many words there are influenced by the italian language)

   ​

   And you bring my love

   to say it or not to(*2)

   to change (her or his) shirt (a problem with translating Greek directly is that for example in phrases like this it isn’t clear who it is referring to since it refers to noone in particular)

   Oh Afousis, oh manly man

   pallare pallara man

   ​

   and the tall brunnetes,

   pallare two or three times,

   and the tall brunnetes,                                                                                              

   pallare two or three times,                                                               

   to greet them,                                                                                                                  

   oh, to fuck them,                                                                                                              

   Oh Afousis, oh manly man,                                                                                        

   pallare pallara man,

   ​

   Light your oil lamp miss,

   to say it or not to(*2)

   oh, put oil in it (*2)

   Oh Afousis, oh manly man

   pallare pallara man

   ​

   And leave your door open

   to say it or not to(*2)

   Oh and I will come at night (*2)

   Oh Afousis, oh manly man

   pallare pallara man

   ​

   I wanto to say a mantinada (traditional cretan rhyme poetry that is sung)

   to say it or not to(*2)

   and a small mantinada (*2)

   oh, and a small mantinada

   Oh Afousis, oh manly man

   pallare pallara man

   ​

   They put me behind bars,

   to say it or not to(*2)

   oh for little Catherine (littleas in cute not pedophilic)

   oh for little Catherine

   Oh Afousis, oh manly man

   pallare pallara man

   ​

   The song sounds super sleazy but literalt translations don’t do it much justice. It’s supposed to be sad and lyrical. I believe the song is referencing a girl Afousis used to love. He was in love with her but her parents married her off to a sailor after Afousis went nuts. Her husband died in a shipwreck and she became a widow. She would feel bad about Afousis and gave him hot food when noone was looking. Occasionaly he would remember his feelings for her and sing her mantinades outside her house.

2. If you enjoy greek music and cretan tunes in particular you might as well check this song out too

   https://youtu.be/BQeGH4YSHh0