O Καϊξής / Kayıkçı
Apostolos Hadzichristos / Απόστολος Χατζηχρήστος| English translation / Μετέφρασε στα αγγλικά / Ingilizce çeviri... | |
| KAYIKÇI | THE KAIKSIS |
| Gel, gel kayıkçı! Yavaş yavaş [1] İstanbul'un kıyısında, sessizlik içinde Haremin hüznünde Gel, gel kayıkçı![2] | Gkel, gkel, kaiksi! Softly, gently to the shoreline of the Only City into the quiet into the oblivion of the harem... Gkel, gkel, kaiksi! |
| Böylece güzel hanımı[3] kaçırayım Hücresinde bir köle, ağlayıp inliyor Ve özgürlüğünü arıyor Gel, gel kayıkçı![4] | let me steal away Guzel Hanoum a slave in her cell weeping and mourning and asking for her freedom Gkel, gkel, kaiksi! |
Translator's notes 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", the harem, of Arab origin, is the same in Turkish, Greek and (all?) other languages, and Guzel (a Turkish girl's name) is titled "hanoum" which is a polite honorific to address a woman or girl, and is, if I am not mistaken, of Persian origin. Further note Güzel is turkish for "beautiful". Hanim is turkish for "Lady/ Woman" |
[Barishan]