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A mother has a son, the apple of her eye,
and the neighbourhood would have him,
’tis a wonder the very mountains do not crumble,
and Roula, a priest’s daughter, desired him, too.
His mother would have him,
the bitch that nursed him would have him as her husband,
vows exchanged in church.
Come one Sunday morning,
she decided to tell him, come one holy day,
she puffed up her feathers and cooed like a dove.
– My child, I am in love with you, but too shy to tell it,
I would have you as my husband, vows exchanged in church.
– May your mouth burn to dust and your body be consumed in flames,
may you be singed from head to toe for desiring your own son.
Mad mother, insane mother, what mother would have
her son for a husband, vows exchanged in church?
Translated by Michael Eleftheriou
Μια μάνα έχει ένα γιο
Μια μάνα έχει ένα γιο, ένα κι κανακάρη,
τον ζήλευε η γειτονιά, που δε ραΐζουν τα βουνά,
τον ζήλεψε κι η Ρούλα, μια μικρή παπαδοπούλα,
τον ζήλεψε κι η μάνα του, η σκύλα παραμάνα του,
άντρα για να τον κάνει και στεφάνι να τον βάλει.
Μια Κυριακή, ένα πρωί, απόφασε για να τον πει
και μια επίσημη μέρα άλλαξε σαν περιστέρα.
– Παιδί μου ’γώ σε αγαπώ, μα ντρέπομαι να σε το πω,
άντρα για να σε κάνω και στεφάνι να σε βάλω.
– Φωτιά ν’ ανάψ’ το στόμα σου, να καίγεται το σώμα σου,
φωτιά και στο κορμί σου που θα πάρεις το παιδί σου.
Μάνα τρελή, μάνα ζουρλή, ποια μάνα παίρνει το παιδί
άντρα για να τον κάνει και στεφάνι να τον βάλει.
A mother erotically attracted to her son is undoubtedly one of our most ancient themes of familial transgression. hough known from ancient Greek mythology, it is clearly an archetypal motif which draws on fantasies which transcend particular cultures and survive censorship because they represent psychic realities which, though dark, are familiar to every audience.
The verse sung ‘And Roula desired him’ should actually be ‘And the rouga desired him’ (rouga=street), and provides a good example of a singer replacing words or phrases either deliberately or because he/she could not understand their meaning or make the words out clearly. This common phenomenon is thus one way of imbuing a song with a new meaning which corresponds to the needs of the group. Miranda Terzopoulou (2008)
Translated by Michael Eleftheriou
This song was recorded as part of the Friends of Music Society's Thracian programme.
