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Ἡλληνιστεύκοντος
(Greek Linguistics)

2011-01-20

A raid on the hashish den

Among Markos Vamvakaris' 1933 recordings—among his very earliest, that is—is Έφοδος στον τεκέ, "A raid on the hashish den". This was a musical revue number by Giannis Kamvysis and Petros Kyriakos. Kyriakos was a musical theatre actor, and the underworld that gave rise to rebetiko music was part of what he documented in song. With all the attentiveness of an anthropologist. Or of a linguist, to judge from his "Dictionary of the mangas", recorded the previous year:

(Inevitably, the song is analysed at length in slang.gr)

The transcription below of Έφοδος στον τεκέ may not be perfect, and if anyone's ears of Greek are better than mine, I'll be grateful for corrections. It's substantially improved by the fact that the first verse has already been posted online, in a collection of rebetiko songs about hashish.

—Μπούρδα μπούρδα! Μάζεψε ασβέλτα τα συμπράγκαλα και καήκαμε.
—Γιατί ρε Τσικρικόνη;
—Ρε την κορόιδα παρισταίνεις ρε ή θέλεις να πα να κοιμάσαι στον Ωρωπό στον άσφαλτο;
—Ναι γιά ρε. Μαζέψτε ρε λεχρίτες τους τζουράδες και ξηγηθήτε τους ζούλα
—Μα τι τρέχει ρε Τσικρικόνια;
—Ρε είσαι μεγάλο χάπι εσύ ρε κύριε, και μια που δεν αντιλήβεσαι δια ζώσης, άκου το πεντάγραμμο και έχεις το δικαίωμα της αναίρεσης, α δε σου γουστάρει.
—Μπράβο

Αδερφάκι κάνε μόκο
Μαύροι πλάκωσαν για μπλόκο
Τώρα στη γωνιά τους είδα
Κάνε ζούλα την καρύδα
Θα μαγκώσουν τα δερβίσα
Θα μας πάρουν τα χασίσα
Τα καλάμια θα μας βρούνε
και τις ζούλες θ' ανθιστούνε

—Μην κουνηθεί κανένας. Στον τόπο γιατί θα σας κάψω
—Μπράβο κύριε μόλισμαν μπράβο. Τέτοια αναθροφή σε μάθανε ρε στην Κέρκυρα ρε στη σχολή;
—Ρε άσε τις εξυπνάδες εσύ ρε Τσικρικόνη και ο άλλος ο Μπάτης, και να μου πείτε τώρα αμέσως που έχετε κρυμμένο το μαύρο και τους λουλάδες. Ακούτε;
—Τι λες μωρ' αδερφέ; Λοιπόν κύριε μόλισμαν, έχεις πέσει όξω εχτρά [= οικτρά]. Μα την Αγία Ανάσταση έχεις πέσει όξω. Μα τι θα πει «μαύρο», κύριε μόλισμαν;

Ένα μαύρο μόνο ξέρω
Δεν μπορώ να σας το φέρω
Η ψυχή μου τού σπαράζει
Μα εγώ τη λέω μαράζι
Τι ντουμάνι δεν γνωρίζω
Την καρδιά μου δεν ορίζω
Μ' έπιασε μεγάλη ζάλη
Έκανα βαρύ κεφάλι

—Τώρα τραβάτε κάτω στο τίμημα [= τμήμα], και κει ξηγιόσαστε με τον αστυνόμο.
—Μπράβο! Δεν πάμε πουθενά κύριε μόλισμαν.
—Έλα μέσα ρε, που δεν πας πουθενά, α;
—Δεν πάμε πουθενά είπαμε! Είμαστε έντιμοι επαγγελματίαι
—Κάτσε παραπέρα ρε κορόιδο εσύ
—Μωρέ πάψε μωρέ αδερφάκι Μάρκο! Είμαστε έντιμοι επαγγελματίαι και έχουμε τον καφενέ μας το νταραβέρι μας τουτέτιξ δηλαδή και στρίβε με το καλό που σου λέω κύριε μόλισμαν.
—Μωρέ τράβα μέσω θα βγάλω το γκλομπ ρε.
—Ποιο γκλομπ να βγάλεις;
—Ναι το γκλομπ θα βγάλω
—Ρε, μάγκες! Βουρ ρε μπλόκο! Βουρ ρε Μπάτη! Βουρ ρε Μπάτη!
—Πάει το καφενείο...
—[??] Gather up the gear quickly, 'cause we're ruined!
—How come, Tsikrokonis?
—Are you playing dumb, then, or would you rather go sleep on the ashphalt of Oropos jail?
—Yeah, scumbags, gather up the tzouras [musical instruments] and stash them away.
—What's the matter, Tsikrikonis?
—You, sir, are a major dimwit. And since you don't get my meaning viva voce, have a listen to these dulcet tones; and you have the right of refutation, if you don't dig it.
—Good work!

Brother, keep it quiet.
The blackguards are swarming for a raid
I've just seen them around the corner
Hide that bong away
They'll snatch us dervishes
They'll take our hash
They'll find our pipes
And they'll get wind of our stash

—Nobody move! Freeze, or I'll do you in!
—Good show, Mr Shmoliceman. Is that how they brought you up in the academy in Corfu, is it?
—Cut the smart talk Tsikrikonis, you and that Batis guy, and tell me immediately where you've hidden the hash and the pipes. Do you hear me?
—What are you talking about, brother? Now Mr Shmoliceman, you are egregiently mistaken. By the Holy Resurrection, you are mistaken. What do you mean, hash?

I only know one hash
And I can't bring it to you
My soul breaks because of it
But I call it the blues
What's that smoke? I can't tell
I cannot keep my heart in check
I've gone mighty dizzy,
And my head feels heavy.

—Right, you can get down to the station now, and you can explain yourselves to the sergeant.
—Oh, good show! We're not going anywhere Mr Shmoliceman.
—Get inside! "Not going anywhere", he says!
—I'm telling you, we're not going anywhere! We are honourable businessmen—
—Cool it you fool
—Oh keep quiet brother Markos! We are honourable businessmen, and we have our café, our commerce and the like, I mean; so I'm asking you nicely, Mr Shmoliceman, you'd better get lost.
—Get inside, damn it, or I'll use my baton.
—Baton? What baton?
—That's right, I'll use my baton.
—Dudes! It's a raid! Get him, Batis! Get him, Batis!
—… Well, there goes the café...


The song has been uploaded onto YouTube once already:

... And now, courtesy of GoAnimate and Yr Obt Svt, it has been uploaded a second time:

3 comments:

Maria E. said...

Enjoyed the post, as usual.

Could it be that "Μπούρδα, μπούρδα" means "Here now, here" or "attention!" In Turkish, "burada" means "here," but it's often pronounced as "burda." I'm assuming because of the commonality of Turkish words, this could be the case.

opoudjis said...

Very likely. I'm sure it's something Turkish, I just couldn't place it. (It's clearly not the contemporary meaning of μπούρδα, "nonsense".)

I might have enough to add subtitles, after all..

rina purwanti FB said...

me like this is.,

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