| Traduzione inglese di Michael Wex trovata su Mudcat |
MAYN SHVESTER KHAYE MIT DI GRINE OYGN | MY SISTER KHAYE, HER EYES WERE GREEN |
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mayn shvester Khaye mit di grine oygn, | My sister Khaye, her eyes were green, |
mayn shvester Khaye mit di shvartse tsep - | My sister Khaye, her braids were black--- |
di shvester Khaye, vos hot mikh dertsoygn | Sister Khaye, it was she who raised me |
oyf smotshe-gas, in hoyz mit krume trep. | In the house on Smotshe Street with tumble-down steps. |
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di mame iz avek fun shtub baginen, | Mother left the house at dawn |
ven oyfn himl hot ersht koym gehelt. | When the sky had hardly lightened. |
zi iz avek in krom arayn fardinen | She went off to the shop, to earn |
dos bidne-drobne groshedike gelt. | A wretched penny's worth of change. |
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un Khaye iz geblibn mit di brider, | And Khaye stayed with the boys, |
un zi hot zey gekormet un gehit. | She fed them and watched over them. |
un zi flegt zingen zey di sheyne lider, | And at evening, when little kids get tired, |
far nakht, ven kleyne kinder vern mid. | She'd sing them pretty songs. |
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mayn shvester Khaye mit di grine oygn, | My sister Khaye, her eyes were green, |
mayn shvester Khaye mit di lange hor - | My sister Khaye, her hair was long--- |
di shvester Khaye, vos hot mikh dertsoygn, | Sister Khaye, it was she who raised me, |
iz nokh nisht alt geven keyn tsendling yor. | She wasn't even ten years old. |
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zi hot geroymt, gekokht, derlangt dos esn, | She cleaned and cooked and served the food, |
zi hot getsvogn undz zi kleyne kep. | She washed our little heads, |
nor shpiln zikh mit undz hot zi fargesn - | All she forgot was to play with us--- |
di shvester Khaye mit di shvartse tsep. | Sister Khaye, her braids were black. |
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mayn shvester Khaye mit di oygn grine, | My sister Khaye with her eyes of green |
a daytsh hot in treblinke zi farbrent. | Was burnt by a German in Treblinka. |
un ikh bin in der yidishe medine | And I am in the Jewish state, |
der same letster, vos hot zi gekent. | The very last one who knew her. |
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far ir shrayb ikh oyf yidish mayne lider | It's for her that I write my poems in Yiddish |
in teg di shreklekhe fun undzer tsayt. | In these terrible days of our times. |
bay got aleyn iz zi a bas-yekhide - | To God Himself she's an only daughter, |
in himl zitst zi bay zayn rekhter zayt. | She sits in heaven at His right hand. |