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Τέσσερα τσαι τέσσερα
Four and four makes eight,
four young lads setting out to war.
Feeling hungry on their way,
they slopped to eat and drink.
They sought a spring upon the mount
and found a hole a hundred feet deep.
They drew lots to see who would climb down
and fate picked out the youngest.
– Tie me up well, my brothers, and I’ll go down
into the lonely hole to fetch water.
And his brothers bound him tight
and lowered him into the hole…
Translated by Michael Eleftheriou
Τέσσερα τσαι τέσσερα γίνονται οκτώ,
τέσσερα παλληκάρκα πάσι στον πόλεμο.
Στον δρόμον που πηαίνασι μα επεινάσασι
τσι εκάτσασιν να φάσιν τσαι εδιφάσασιν.
Γυρεύκουν να βρουν βρύσην απάνω στο βουνόν
τσι ήβρασιν έναν λάκκον των εκατόν οργιών.
Ερίξαν το λαχνίν τους ποιος έν’ να κατεβεί
τσαι έπεσεν η μοίρα πα’ στο μικρόν παιδί.
– Δέστε με, αδέρφκια μου, τσι εγιώ να κατεβώ
μες στο ερημολάτσιν να βγάλω το νερό.
Τσαι τότε τα αδέρφκια τον σφικτοδέσασι,
μες στο ερημολάτσιν τον κατεβάσασιν...
In most variations, the verses that follow (missing from this recording) refer to the death of the youngest brother, the victim of a spirit lurking at the bottom of the well. The hatred directed at the youngest brother (reminiscent of the biblical story of Joseph, whose brothers also threw him into a well), the descent into a deep hole (a symbol with dark psycho-sexual overtones), the sacrifice of a young man to a chthonic demon, and other such themes, are all stereotypical motifs and symbols found in songs, folktales, and legends across cultures.
The song belongs to the category of Ballads – a rare and precious narrative genre that could be described as a folk tale in verse, incorporating elements of primeval myth through which people united the real with the supernatural. These stories –generally tragic– may have once happened or could happen, no matter how far-fetched they might seem. Ballads were often recited rather than sung and functioned as a form of storytelling.
Listeners identified with the tragic heroes and often wept as they listened. The ballads’ extreme fiction helped audiences accept the supernatural –and, by extension, the irrational aspects of the unconscious– within their rational worldview. Gradually, people came to accept that threatening spirits were an integral part of life, and that life contains unpleasant, even unspoken emotions. These emotions can lead to conflict, even within the supposed safety of the family unit – conflicts the family must learn to confront and manage.
Miranda Terzopoulou (2018)
Studio recording (1982).
Singers
