Go home, my cow
Tý poidi, maya karovushka, damoi,
tý poidi, maya buryonushka, damoi!
Go home, my dear cow,
go home, my dear brown cow!
Akh, tilili, kalinka maya,
f sadu yagoda malinka maya.
Oh, you Lyuli - my juniper,
in the garden there's the berry, my raspberry.
Uzh kak yal mayu karovushku lublyu,
uzh kak yal to yey krapivushki nazhnu!
How I love my dear cow,
and how I'll mow her stinging nettles!
Akh, tilili, kalinka maya,
f sadu yagoda malinka maya.
Oh, you Lyuli - my juniper,
in the garden there's the berry, my raspberry.
Kushai f volyushku, karovushka maya,
yesh tý dosýta, buryonushka maya!
Eat what you want, my dear cow,
eat your fill, my dear brown cow!
Akh, tilili, kalinka maya,
f sadu yagoda malinka maya.
Oh, you Lyuli - my juniper,
in the garden there's the berry, my raspberry.
Shtob sýta býla, karovushka maya,
shtobý slivotshek, buryonushka, dala!
You must be satiated, my dear cow,
that you can give cream, my dear brown cow!
Akh, tilili, kalinka maya,
f sadu yagoda malinka maya.
Oh, you Lyuli - my juniper,
in the garden there's the berry, my raspberry.
Words and music: Russian folksong
Pronunciation:
a as in "bar", e as in "bed", i as in "bid", o as in "bore", u as in "blue"
y = as in "yellow" /
ý = dull i, as in "bill"
s = always voiceless, as in "son" / z = voiced, as in "zone"
sh = voiceless, as in "mesh" / zh = voiced, like the s in "measure"
kh = mostly rough, like the ch in Scotch "loch", but smooth when "e" or "i" follows
a, e, i, o, u, y
= the underlined vowel signifies the stressed syllable of a word.
Arrangement for balalaika, musical notation,
transcription and analogous translation: Kai Kracht
Comment:
This song of a peasant, sung for his only cow,
so full of deep affection,
good wishes, promises and expectations,
also includes a divine blessing:
"tilili" actually means
"tý, Lyuli" (you, Lyuli)
and obviously is an invocation of the old-slavic goddess
of the rural people, named "Lyuli", whose sacred plants were
"kalinka" (juniper) and "malinka" (raspberry).
The refrain seems to be the classical
magic spell to invoke the heathen goddess.
We find the same formula
in the widely known song "Kalinka",
and fragments of it in several other folksongs.
© Kai Kracht 2002