|
BASQUE SONG
The following song (translated from Basque to French) is basically the
story of mother who is looking for her son and asks a young Bustanoby
of his whereabouts. In the following translation Nanette enlarges on the
meaning.
L'aulne n'a pas
de moelle - ni le fromage d'os; j'ignorais que le fils de bonne famille
disait des mensonges.
Vallée
d'Andoze! - 0 quelle longue vallée! - Trois fois, sans armes,
elle m'a fauché le coeur !
Berterretche,
du lit, - à la servante, avec douceur : -« Va, regarde
s'il parait des hommes ! »
De suite, la
servante, - comme elle le vit, [dit] que trois douzaines [d'hommes]
vont et viennent d'une fenêtre à l'autre.
« Berterretche,
de la fenêtre, - au seigneur comte le bonjour, - il lui offre
cent vaches avec le taureau à la suite.
« Le seigneur
comte aussitôt, - comme un traître: - «Berterretche,
viens à la porte; - tu retourneras de suite. »
« Mère,
donnez moi la chemise; - peut-être celle pour jamais; - qui vivra
se souviendra du lendemain de Pâques !
« 0 la
course de Marisantz, - à la descente de Bostmendieta En se traînant
sur ses deux genoux, elle est entrée dans la maison de Bustanoby
de Lacarry.
« jeune
Buztanoby, - frère bien-aimé, - s'il n'y a secours de
toi, mon fils est perdu ! »
« Soeur,
tais toi, - je t'en prie, ne pleure pas, ton fils, s'il est vivant est
sans doute à Mauléon.
« 0, la
course de Marisantz, - à la porte du seigneur comte! - Aïe,
aïe, où avez vous mon tendre enfant ?
« Toi,
tu avais un fils autre que Berterretche ? Il est aux environs d'Espeldon,
mort; va, ramène-le vivant !
« Gens
d'Espeldon, gens sans coeur ils avaient un mort si près, et ils
n'en savaient rien !
« La fille
d'Espeldon - se nomme Margarita elle ramasse le sang de Berterretche
à pleines mains.
«La lessive
d'Espeldon - ô la belle lessive il s'y trouve, dit-on, trois douzaines
de chemises de Berterretche.
Nanette Bustanoby
gives further information on this song.
It's called the "Song of Berterretche," which would have
been in Basque originally.
This is a famous ballad
that dates to the 14th or 15th
Century. Gallop's "A Book of the Basques" gives this translation:
The alder has
not pith, nor does the reed have bark.
I did not think that noblemen spoke lies.
The valley of
Andoce, oh the long valley!
Though it be weaponless thrice has it pierced my heart.
Berterretche
from his bed speaks low to the maidservant:
"Go see if there are men in sight."
Straightway the
maid told him what she had seen,
Three dozen men going from door to door.
From his window
Berterretche greets my Lord Count
And offers him a hundred cows and their bull.
Treacherously
spoke then my Lord Count:
"Come to the door Berterretche, you shall return forthwith."
Mother, give
me my shirt, perchance the one that I shall never cast off.
Those who live will remember the dawn that follows Easter."
Oh the haste
of Mari-Santz as she sped past Bostmendieta!
On her two knees she entered the house of Bustanoby at Lacarry.
"O young
Master of Bustanoby, my beloved brother,
Without your aid my son is lost."
"Be silent my sister, I beg you do not weep;
If your son lives he is gone to Mauleon."
Oh the haste
of Mari-Santz to the door of my Lord Count!
"Alas! my Lord Count, where have you my fine son?"
"Have you
sons other than Berterretche?
He lies dead over by Espeldoy; you who are alive go tend him."
Oh, the men of
Espeldoy; they of little understanding,
Who having the dead so near knew nothing of it!
The daughter
of Espeldoy, she whom they call Marguerite,
Gathers up the blood of Berterretche in handfulls.
Oh, what fine
linen there is to be washed at the house of Espeldoy!
Of the shirts of Berterretche they say there are three dozen.
According to the story
Berterretche was planning to marry a girl, and some relatives did not
approve. They therefore murdered him. His mother was the sister of our
ancestor Buztanobi (Basque spelling). The mention of his village being
Lacarry creates confusion since the Bustanobys originated in Larrau. These
villages are not far from each other in the mountains of Soule, the easternmost
provence of the Basque country on the French side of the Pyrenees.
|