Lera Yanysheva: The Sense of the Father (From Russian Romani)

The Sense of the Father
By Lera Yanysheva
Translated by A.Z. Foreman

(Set in the 1890s)

I grew up in a camp, a traveling Rom.
I'm living in St. Petersburg today,
The city of His Majesty the Tsar.
Is there a finer city? I can't say.

Now Russian gentlemen pay me good money
To entertain them in a restaurant chorus. 
The good Lord even blessed me with good daughters
Born in the moneyed home I had built for us.

My daughters grew and blossomed into beauties.
The men went crazy for them at a glance.
The Russian soul finds freedom in a gypsy song
And nobody could dance like my girls danced. 

Then a disaster. My own blood betrayed me.
Now I'm afraid to bloody show my face.
Those two sang their last number to run off
With noble "men" and dropped me in disgrace.

They will give birth � good Lord � to halfblood freaks.
In camp they say that I have sold myself. 
"Too good for us" they stab me as they speak
"But couldn't join the gadjo gents. Well, well..."

It's true...I live a Russian gadjo life.
Where's my Romanipen? My free Rom will?
Those stupid girls have done a number on me.
But I was blessed with one more daughter still.

My Masha � a real Romni of the tents!
Thinking of her, my heart is melted snow. 
She stopped by yesterday, a traveling Rom.
It truly warmed my eyes to see her so

With her red coral beads, her well-worn blouse, 
The headscarf that a proper wife should wear,
Her ear-rings and her flower-pattern skirt. 
The day was cold...and yet her feet were bare!  

The horse-monger I gave her to appraised her,
Knowing she was a towngirl. Didn't care! 
Just said "she's pretty as a doll" and took her
To a kept life of tents and open air. 

No poshness for my Masha. Woods and roads...
She'll learn to work the cards, tell fortunes well.  
She'll bear him children, and they will be men
Who profit by the horses that they sell. 

Nobody wants a towngirl in their family.
I had to cut a deal with an old friend of mine.  
He took the gamble, and became her in-law. 
So now my son-in-law keeps her in line.

A father knows much better than his daughters. 
My Masha sobbed. But she had best make do.
She will not be some lordly Russian's tramp.
She lives the way the good Lord willed her to.


Stanza 2

One is, I think, to understand that the man is not actually wealthy by the standards of the Russian ruling class. Rather, he is unusually wealthy for a Rom.

Stanza 3:

L3, literally reads quite simply "the gadje want/love Romani songs." My translation, which makes explicit a bit of what I think implicit, is rather circumlocutory. It seemed called for, given that an English-speaking reader might not necessarily be aware of the role "gypsy songs" have had in Russian culture. Yanysheva self-translates this line in Russian as ?? ????? ??????? � ?????? ??? ???? "To them [Russian gentry], the free-[spirited] song is a joy to the soul."

Stanza 6

Romanipen: a key concept of Rom culture. (Also known as: Romanimos, Romanija, Roman�ago.) This is not necessarily a matter of ancestry, so much as how one behaves, how one lives, and what one does. The quality of being in touch with Rom ways.

Stanza 8

On the phrase "de �atra rogo��tko" (into a burlap tent) c.f. the song which begins, in one version:

Aj de �atrica rogo��tko
Ande �atrica caj bid�tko.
(Oh in a little burlap tent, in the little tent is a hapless girl.)


The Original:

????�????? ??�?? ???? ??????? ??????? ???????, ?? ??????? ????? ??, ????????? ?? ??? ??�???? ????, ?? ????? ?? ???????�??? ?? ?????�??. ???�? ?????? ????�?? ??????! ? ?? ?? ??�?? ??????�?? ?? ?? ?????�??. ??? ??????�??? ??�??? ??? ????. ??? ???????�??? ?? ?? ??�?? ????????, ???? ???? ??? ????? ?????. ?? ???? ??? ??�??? ??????? ??????. ???????? ??? ???�???? ???, ??? ??�??? ? ???? ??? ????�???. ????? ????�?? ?????? ????. ????? ????�???? ? ??? ?????�???. ? ??�?? ??????! ???� ?? ??? ????! ?? ?? ? ???�?? ??�??? ?? ?????�???� ??????????�???! ??? ?? ???????! ??? ???? ??? ? ???????�??? ???????�???. ???�?? ?????? � ????! � ?? ??? ?????. ? ??�????? ????? ???? ???? ?????�???: �?????�??? ?????, ? ?? ??? ?? ???????�! ???? ??? ????????�, � ???� ????�?? ??�???.         ??�. ?????????? ?????? ?? ??�?? ??. ??? ?? ????????? ??? ??�?? ??????? ?????? ?? ??�??? ??�?? � ??????� ?? ????, ?? ??�??? ???�?? ?????�. ??? ???? ??�??? � ?? ?????�??? ???. ???? ?? ????????, ??? ??????. ??? ????? ????�?? ?? ????, ?? ??�?? ?? ?????? � ???? ??????! ???? ????�??, ??�??? ?????????, ?? ?????? ?? ??�?? ??�?? ??????�???. ?? ?????? � ? ?? ?? ??????? � ???? ????, ?????�??? ??????�???. ??? ??????�??? ?????? ?? ??????, ??? ?? ??? � ???? ??�??? ??? ????�???, �???? ????, � ??????, � ??? ??�??? ??!� ?? ??�?? ???? ?? ??�??? ??????�???. ?? ??�???? ??????! ?????, ????� ? ?? ????? ?? ?? ?????? ?????�??. ????? ??�???? ???? ???? ?????, ? ???? ?? ??????? ???� ???�??! ???????????? ??????? ?????�??, ????�??? ?? ????? ?? ??�??? ?? ?????. ? ?? ?? ??�???? � ?? ???? ?????�??, ??? ????? ????� ?? ????�?? ???????! ??? ???? � ????� ????? ???? ?????�??. ????? ? ??�?? � ??? � ?????????! ?? ????? ????? ?? ?? ???�??. ?????�?? ?? ??? ??????? ??????�

Dad�skiri D�ma Lera Jan�eva Semjake Pankovo, de lengiri pat�v. Ne, bijandjom-pe me dre t�boro baro, Te akana do Peterb�rgo me d�ivava. Odoj d�ivel tag�ri kokoro! A s� li f�ro go�ed�r? Me na d�inava. Raja plesk�rna m�nge but love. Va� gospod�nge me do x�ro bagandjom, Lace cajen d�j� m�nge Devel. Me kher va� s�mja barvalo kindjom. V�barin� s�r cv�tic� caja, Pal l�nde o bare raja mer�nas. Gad�e kam�na romane gilja. Fed�r sar�nd�r o caja khel�nas. E b�da podgeja! Jone �e rat miro! Da me o �t�to p�ske na lath�vas... Dobagandle-pes! S�r �e lad�avo! Jekh pale jekh e gospod�nca uprast�nas. Av�na cavore � mejom! � po pa� gad�e. O t�borna mur�a ghara amen obkh�rna: "�atr�t�r ugene, a ke raja na prigene! Tume pes bikindle" � jone lav�sa m�rna. Ai. Gad�ikanes d�ivav de f�ro me. Kaj s� Roman�pe? Kaj v�lja Roman�? Skerde pe m�nde bida � d�l�n�... Pe baxt, s� m�nde tr�to cajori. Vot miri M�ka � joj �atr�tko caj. Koli me zripirav, ilo tatj�la. S�r atasja rom�sa joj javja, Pe l�te me d�kh�v � jakha xac�na! Lole kor�li, k�fta risjkird�, Te roman� pe l�te c�xa obork�nca. S� ��lal� � a joj s� pirangi � Bare cenja, fart��ka uzork�nca. Pal kofar�ste cajorja me otd�j�m, L�j� la rom � xotj Ma�ka s�s for�tko, "Savi ran�" phendja "s�r k�kla joj!" Joj l�sa ugeja de ��tra rogo��tko. Na b�rsko d�iipe! Droma, ve�a... I pe patrja joj te curdel d�in�la. Av�na l�kire cave sare mur�a, E gren te paruven jone av�na! Dorakirdj�m-pe phurane drug�sa, For�tko ca nikon de s�mja na kam�n. A jov na d�rlas � jov javja svat�sa, Tej adava cavo la str�go rikirel! Kaj baxt � dada fed�r cajen d�in�na. Rundja e Ma�a � mek � pris�kl�j�! Te akana gad�i joj ne av�la. D�iv�la joj s�r Devloro phendja...