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A young and gallant soldier Sought a citadel, a citadel.
He sought a citadel, a village to stop at. He found none, no citadel.
He found neither citadel nor village to stop at; He found, he found a tree.
He found a tree, a tree all of gold; He stopped, he stopped and asked it:
He stopped and asked it, he stopped and said:
– Tree, show me, shown me,
Tree, show me, me and my horse, Where is, where is your trunk,
Where is your trunk that I may tether my horse; Where are, where are your branches,
Where are your branches that I may hang up my arms.
– Here is my trunk, here is my trunk,
Here is my trunk, tether your horse,
Here are my branches, here are my branches,
Here are my branches, hang up your arms; And here is, here is my shade,
Here is my shade, lay yourself down to rest, And tomorrow, tomorrow all in the morning early,
And tomorrow all in the morning early, I shall demand my due: Two pitchers, two pitchers of water,
Two pitchers of water you will pour on my foot, Two pitchers of water, two pitchers of water.
Ένας άγουρος κι ένας καλός στρατιώτης
Ένας άγουρος κι ένας καλός στρατιώτης
κάστρο γύ- κάστρο γύρευε, ρωμιοπού- ρωμιοπούλα μου
κάστρο γύρευε, χωριό να πάει να μείνει
κι ούδε κάστρο βρίσκ’ κι ούδε χωριό να μείνει
βρίσκει ένα δεντρί, δεντρί μαλαματένιο,
στέκ’ και το ρωτάει, στέκεται και του λέει.
– Δέξε με δεντρί εμέν’ και τ’ άλογό μου,
πού είν’ η ρίζα σου να δέσω τ’ άλογό μου,
πού είν’ η κλώνα σου να βάλω τ’ άρματά μου;
– Για κι η ρίζα μου δέσε και τ’ άλογό σου,
για κι η κλώνα μου βάλε και τ’ άρματά σου
για κι ο ίσκιος μου πέσε να ξαποστάσεις
κι αύριο το ταχιά το δίκιο μ’ το γυρεύω
δυο σταμνιά νερό στη ρίζα μου να ρίξεις.
Digenes Akritas is the hero of a long epic written in the 10th century which soon became very popular and thanks to which the name of this valiant Akritas is to be found over and over again in many of the songs from the Acritic cycle. The Western listener should not be surprised by the gay, dancing pace of this song which is about the death of Digenes : in Greece, since the greatest antiquity, the death of a hero has often given rise to festivities and dancing. Note in the second song the fantastic element of the dialogue between the tree and the soldier, an almost omnipresent element in Acritic songs. Aris Fakinos (1982)
