ΣΤΑ ΨΗΛΑ ΤΑ ΠΑΡΑΘΥΡΙΑ

[fadi 2]

i looked for a translation for this song...when i didn't find i decided to translate it for u...

please correct me if there is any mistakes

enjoy

ΣΤΑ ΨΗΛΑ ΤΑ ΠΑΡΑΘΥΡΙΑ / AT THE HIGH WINDOWS

Μουσική: Σταύρος Κουγιουμτζής / music:Stavros Kouyoumtzis

Στίχοι: Λευτέρης Παπαδόπουλος / Lyrics:Lefteris Papadopoulous

Στα ψηλά τα παραθύρια / at the highs windows

δυο ματόφρυδα γιοφύρια / two eyebrows bridges

μαύρα μάτια και μεγάλα / blacks and bigs eyes

ζυμωμένα με το γάλα / kneading the milk for me

Τα ματόκλαδα σου κλείνεις / u close your eyelashes

να περάσω δε μ' αφήνεις / u don't let me pass

Στο μπακτσέ στο περιβόλι / at the garden of Perivoli

ειν' οι δώδεκα Αποστόλοι / their are twelve messengeres

τη Ρηνιώ ποτίζουν μέλι / at Rinio they irrigate honey

μα εκείνη δε με θέλει / but there, don't want me

Τα ματόκλαδα σου κλείνεις / u close your eyelashes

να περάσω δε μ' αφήνεις / u don't let me to pass

[Geske 37]

Kougioumtzis is not as easy as he seems... Also he is extremely "Greek", full of idioms and expressions and words that exist only in Greek, so that when you translate word-by-word into English you quickly get into trouble. I remember the difficulties we had with "Mi mou thimoneis" for example...

Here's what I've come up with:

ΣΤΑ ΨΗΛΑ ΤΑ ΠΑΡΑΘΥΡΙΑ ___||___ AT THE HIGH WINDOWS

Μουσική: Σταύρος Κουγιουμτζής ___||___ Music: Stavros Kougioumtzis

Στίχοι: Λευτέρης Παπαδόπουλος ___||___ Lyrics: Lefteris Papadopoulos

Στα ψηλά τα παραθύρια ___||___ At the high windows

δυο ματόφρυδα γιοφύρια ___||___ two eyebrows bridging

μαύρα μάτια και μεγάλα ___||___ black eyes, big eyes,

ζυμωμένα με το γάλα ___||___ mild as milk

Τα ματόκλαδα σου κλείνεις ___||___ You close your eyelashes

να περάσω δε μ' αφήνεις ___||___ you are not letting me pass

Στο μπακτσέ στο περιβόλι ___||___ In the garden in the orchard

είν' οι δώδεκα Αποστόλοι ___||___ are the twelve Apostles

τη Ρηνιώ ποτίζουν μέλι ___||___ they are giving Rinio honey to drink

μα εκείνη δε με θέλει ___||___ but she, she does not want me.

Τα ματόκλαδα σου κλείνεις ___||___ You close your eyelashes

να περάσω δε μ' αφήνεις ___||___ you are not letting me pass

Rinio: a familiar/affectionate form of Irini (Irene).

[Michael 2]

μαύρα μάτια και μεγάλα  ___||___  black eyes, big eyes,

ζυμωμένα με το γάλα  ___||___  mild as milk

"ζυμωμένος" is used sometimes in an unusual (at least for people with the German language as mother tongue) metaphorical sense.

My Greek-German dictionary says only:

"ζυμώνω" = "kneten, (Teig, Gips usw.) anrühren"

Similar the Greek-English dictionary by Stavropolos:

"ζυμώνω" = "(ψωμί) knead, (πηλό) work"

Here the word "ζυμώνω" seems to have the metaphorical meaning given by Μπαπμπινιώτης in his Greek dictionary as follows:

"διαμορφώνομαι δεχόμενος ερεθίσματα και επιδράσεις που καθορίζουν την προσωπικότητά μου και τις επιλογές μου [...] Συν[ώνυμα:] πλάθομαι, διαπλάθομαι, διαμορφώνομαι"

So here the phrase "ζυμωμένα με το γάλα" describes another essential characteristic of the eyes (besides being big and black): They are (also) made / created with milk.

I have no idea how to put it into good English. To my mind "mild as milk" should not be used even as a very, very free translation because I think that the "milk" is not a symbol for mildness (or similar characteristics) but refers simply to the colour white: White milk which "made/created" the white (= το ασπράδι) of the eyes.

PS: As for the rest of the lyrics, Geske's translation it to my mind the "correct" one.

[Geske 37]

An unsatisfactory translation is something like an itch you can't scratch - I've been suffering from this one since yesterday. Anything I come up with is either too inaccurate or twice too long...

"floating in milk" is the only one that is not worse than the "mild as milk" I put. But it's not good. Drat this job anyway

[fadi 2]

Thank u Michael and Geske

to translate from Greek to any language is an impossible mission

every one has his versions,abd his expressions etc

thank's for your notes...i learned from u!

[Olga Fendrych 0]

I am not very sure.

But, by "zimomena me to gala" a rather simple fact from the plastic arts can be meant.

If you would like to reach, by a painting or the sculpture of a human face, an effect of looking directly on the spectator, almost persecuting with a persistent look, you put a small white point into or a thin white line around the pupill.

Maybe are the ancient Fayum portraits the best example for it (Fadi, I am almost sure, you know them).

My absolutely beloved part of the fine arts.

[Michael 2]

First of all: Thank you, Fadi, for you friendly words.

Olga, just now I wanted to refer to Geske's last comment and I saw your posting. Well, I am not sure that we mean completely the same, but our central idea is quite similar: We both refer to the brightness of the white in the eyes (the region around the pupill). And to my mind Papadopoulos wants to say that the eyes (= their pupills) are very dark ("μαύρα μάτια") and at the same time there is also a very strong white (= the region around the pupills) - as if they were created from milk ("ζυμωμένα με το γάλα"). With other words: a strong contrast within the eyes.

Geske, therefore I think that it is not only a question of what would be a (stylistic) satisfactory translation but first of all a question of how you interprete the "ζυμωμένα με το γάλα / created with milk", its meaning: if you interprete it in the way I (and I think in a similar way Olga too) did it above, or if your interpretation is a different one. "Mild as milk" (as you suggest)? I don't know. Why is "mild" a characteristic of milk?? To my mind the characteristic is more the white colour (and it would fit with the description of eyes, as stated above). So personally I would prefer "white as milk" (instead of "mild as milk"). The problem is that in this way we produce a queer contradiction in the translation ("black" -"white") which in the original does not exist (as in the original it is complementary: black and white [when following my interpretation]).

I fear I have no more ideas or suggestions.

[Geske 37]

I have since then come up with "swimming in milk" - a little overdone, but actually the most accurate so far.

:blink:

[Michael 2]

I have since then come up with "swimming in milk" - a little overdone, but actually the most accurate so far.

       :blink:

That sounds very very good!!!

(It sounds to me almost better than the original. :lol: )

PS:

Well, of course in your translation we will have to imagine as eyes only their "inner part" (= the pupill) because only this part is swimming in "milk", but I think that such an interpretation of "eye" is acceptable (from the logical point of view).