| Latvian song | Free translation | Word-for-word translation |
|---|---|---|
|
Alutiņu brūvedama Biti bāzu kabatā, Lai dzied alus dzērajiņi, Kā bitītes stropiņā. | While brewing the beer* I put a bee in my pocket So that the ale-drinkers would sing Like bees buzzing in a hive. | ale/beer*-dim.acc.sg. brew-pres.act.ppl.fem.sg. bee-acc.sg. stuff-1.p.sg.past pocket-loc.sg. so sing-3.p.pres. beer-gen.sg. drinker-dim.nom.pl. like bee-dim.nom.pl. hive-dim.loc.sg. |
|
Kas par zirgu, neēd auzu, Tek pa ceļu dancodams; Kas par vīru, nedzer alu, Sēž pie galda dziedādams. | What kind of a horse won't eat oats And dances down the road; What kind of a man won't drink beer But sits at the table, singing. | what for horse-acc.sg. not-eat-3.p.pres. oats.acc.sg. **run-3.p.pres. along road-acc.sg. dance-pres.act.ppl.masc.sg. what for man-acc.sg. not-drink-3.p.pres. beer-acc.sg. sit-3.p.pres. at table-gen.sg. sing-pres.act.ppl.masc.sg. |
|
Šī pusīte skaisti dzied, Še dodat alus dzert; Viņa puse nedziedaja, Lai dzer pūra ūdentiņu. | This side sings sweetly Give them ale to drink; That side isn't singing Let them drink swamp water. | this-fem.nom.sg. side-dim.nom.sg. prettily sing-3.p.pres. here give-2.p.pl.imper. beer-acc.sg. drink-infin. that/his-gen.sg. side-nom.sg. not-sing-3.p.pst. let drink-3.p.pres. swamp-gen.sg. water-dim.acc.sg. |
|
Ak tu skuķi%, tautu meita&&, Tavu skaistu dziedāšanu! Man izlija alus kanna, Tavu dziesmu klausoties. | Oh you lass%, what a girl&&, How beautifully you sing! I upset my beer mug Listening to your song. | oh you-2.p.sg.nom. lass-acc.sg. folk-gen.pl. girl-nom.sg. your-2.p.sg.gen. beautiful-fem.acc.sg. singing-acc.sg. me-dat.sg. out-pour-3.p.pst. beer-gen.sg. mug-nom.sg. your-2.p.sg.gen. song-acc.sg. listen-indecl.ppl. |
|
Alus guļ muciņā Nosirmušu$ muguriņu, Gaida savu dzērajiņu No Vāczemes pārnākam. | The beer sit in the keg The keg has gone grey$; Waiting for its drinker To return from Germany. | beer-nom.sg. lie-3.p.pres. barrel-dim.loc.sg. grey-turn-pst.act.ppl.acc.sg. back-dim.acc.sg. await-3.p.pres. own-acc.sg. drinker-dim.acc.sg. from German-land-gen.sg. return-indecl.ppl. |
* Latvian doesn't distinguish between beer and ale. The word alus is used for both. In the translations, I have used beer and ale indiscriminately.
** I have translated the verb tek (infinitive: tecēt) as "run", in this context. However, since the same verb can also be used of water, can also be translated as "flow".
% The word skuķe is a non-standard word for girl, probably derived from Middle Low German. It could be translated as "gal", "wench", or "lass", depending on the context.
&& The term tautu meita literally means "girl of the folk". In folk songs it usually refers to a young woman who belongs to a family or clan other than one's own (and, thus, a girl who is eligible to be married).
$ The folk song literally says that the ale keg's back has gone grey. I take this to mean that, over time, a greyish-white film or deposit has appeared on the outside of the keg. Since I know nothing of the brewing of ale or beer, I'm not sure why this happens. In any case, it is clear that the one for whom the beer was intended has gone far away, and may never return.
To see the explanation of the grammatical abbreviations used in the "word-for-word" translations, go to → Grammatical Abbreviations
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Last revised November 1, 2008