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Geske

Ο καϊξής_____||_____ The kaiksis

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As a small token of thanks to Marijke for recording this for us at the Vienna concert...

Ο καϊξής_____||_____ The kaiksis

Στίχοι: Γ. Φωτίδας_____||_____ Lyrics: G. Fotidas

Μουσική: Απόστολος Χατζηχρήστος_____||_____ Music: Apostolos Chatzichristos

Γκελ, γκελ, καϊξή!_____||_____ Gkel, gkel, kaiksi!

Γιαβάς, γιαβάς_____||_____ Softly, gently

Μεσ' της Πόλης τ' ακρογιάλι_____||_____ to the shoreline of the Only City

Μέσ' τη σιγαλιά_____||_____ into the quiet

Μεσ' του χαρεμιού τη λύθη - _____||_____ into the oblivion of the harem...

Γκέλ, γκέλ, καιξή!_____||_____ Gkel, gkel, kaiksi!

Να κλέψω την_____||_____ let me steal away

Γκιουζέλ Χανούμ_____||_____ Guzel Hanoum

σκλάβα μέσα στο κελί της_____||_____ a slave in her cell

κλαίει και θρηνεί_____||_____ weeping and mourning

και ζητάει τη λευτεριά της -_____||_____ and asking for her freedom

Γκέλ, γκέλ, καιξή!_____||_____ Gkel, gkel, kaiksi!

The kaiksis is the captain of the caïque, a typical boat of the eastern Mediterranean: small, narrow, with oars not sails. If the song had been set in Venice instead of Istanbul, it would have been gondoliere instead of kaiksis, and I would have left the name in the original language too.

"The Only City": this is Istanbul, in its earlier much-lamented incarnation as Constantinople, or, in Greek, Constantinoupoli ("the city of Constantine"), or "i poli", "the city", for short.

It's a well-spiced song, etymologically speaking.

The Ottoman city is called by its Greek name,

kaiksis and kaïki are Turkish words, so is the call "gkel, gkel" (with the intention of "come here"),

the harem, of Arab origin, is the same in Turkish, Greek and (all?) other languages, and

Guzel (Turkish) is titled "hanoum" which is a polite honorific to address a girl, like "miss" and is, if I am not mistaken, of Persian origin. It is the same word as the "hanoumakia" we know from Charoula's song about Kordelio, #9 on Mikra Asia.

If you are wondering whether you ever heard (or saw) the composer's name before, you probably have, because he is responsible for "O Zorikos" (#3 on To Elliniko Prosopo and also available in the "rare songs" topic in an absolutely stunning version posted by Apostolis).

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Guzel hanoum: Guzel hanim : Beautiful lady in Turkish. Girl is ''kiz'' in Turkish.

Kaiksis : Kayikci : Boatman

Kayik is boat in Turkish.

Some clarity for this ''semi Turkish '' song :D

Thank you Geeske for your translation for this ''guzel'' song

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I forgot to mention that "guzel" whould have the two dots on the u and that hanoum is the greek (mis)pronuniation of the turkish "hanim", where the i is the other i, the one without a dot, that's only sort of half pronounced.

What I am not clear about is wether "Guzel" is intended as an adjective or as a proper noun - after all, if Greek girls can be called "Zoi" (life), why shouldn't Turkish girls be called "lovely"? So, who is the boy meaning to abduct from the harem: "Miss Guzel" or "the lovely lady" ?

p.s.

about the kaiki - here is something that happens quite often when "names of things" travel... In Turkish "kayik" is the general word for boat, and then other languages adopt the Turkish word to designate, specifically, a... Turkish boat :D . At least in Greek and in French, it's an accepted "technical term".

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Sorry, I was being hasty... In French the "caïque" still means "the narrow Turkish rowboat" of the kind you see in the old engravings showing Istanbul (or Smyrni before the fire, or Thessaloniki...) - and I'm pretty sure that's the boat meant here.

But in Greek the meaning has evolved and the "καΐκι" is generally a small boat, with sails or an engine.

The difficulty of writing Turkish sounds with the Greek alphabet shows in the two authorized spellings of the boatman: καϊκτσής or καϊξής.

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I don't know if it's a coincidence or what that I should be reading this particular book at this particular time, but to anyone wanting a taste of Istanbul I warmly recommend

"Istanbul - memories of a city" by Orhan Pamuk.

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Geske,you are right,Greeks have borrowed these two words,"καϊκι" and "χανούμισα","χανουμάκι",we use them too,with a different meaning.

-John

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