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אין זיסן פֿאָרגעפֿיל פֿון ווייען.

in sweet premonition of birth pangs.

Work 305 of 440

Page 362. 'In a tog fun zun' continuation: the stone smiled 'in zisn forgefiln fun veyen' (in sweet premonition of birth pangs — the stone as pregnant). The stone whispers to the man: you are son, brother, husband, and for someone 'mer fun dem alem' (more than all this). The stone pleads: smile at me, embrace me, 'lomir oykh zayn gliklekh' (let us also be happy). 'A shteyn vil oykh barirung fun finger' (a stone also wants touch of fingers). Remarkably: 'es vakst a kind oykh in mayne gederim' (a child grows also in my bowels) — animating inanimate matter, stone as mother. The speaker embraces the stone; warmth streams from its 'gederim' (bowels), 'reykh fun blut un layb' (scent of blood and body). The refrain returns: 'Muter — froy — muter' (Mother — woman — mother) — the stone becomes archetypal mother-figure.

Yiddish Original

אין זיסן פֿאָרגעפֿיל פֿון ווייען.

און איך האָב געהערט ווי דער שטיין האָט געפֿליסטערט:

— מענטש,

ביסט אַ זון, אַ ברודער, אַ מאַן

און פֿאַר עמעצן ביסטו מער פֿון דעם אַלעם: —

שמייכל צו מיר;

נעם מיך אַרום: —

אַרום, אַרום.

לאָמיר אויך זײַן גליקלעך.

גליקלעך, גליקלעך.

אַ שטיין וויל אויך באַרירונג פֿון פֿינגער.

פֿינגער, פֿינגער.

עס וואַקסט אַ קינד אויך אין מײַנע געדערים,

אין מײַנע, אין מײַנע.

זאָלסט וויסן, מענטש,

אין מײַנע: —

איך האָב אַרומגענומען דעם ליכטיקן שטיין

מיט מײַנע ביידע אָרעמס.

און דער שטיין האָט געקוקט אויף מיר

מיט נאָך גרעסערער דערקענטעניש.

וואַרעמקייט האָט אַ שטראָם געטאָן אויף מיר

פֿון דער טיף פֿון זײַנע געדערים,

ריח פֿון בלוט און לײַב,

ווי פֿון אַ טראַכט פֿון אַ מוטער.

מוטער —

פֿרוי — מוטער,

וויפֿיל נעמען איך האָב פֿאַר דיר

אַנדערע —

אַנדערע, אַנדערע, אַנדערע —

פֿרוי — מוטער.

Transliteration

In zisn forgefiln fun veyen.

Un ikh hob gehert vi der shteyn hot geflisert:

— mentsh,

bist a zun, a bruder, a man

un far emetsn bistu mer fun dem alem: —

shmeykhl tsu mir;

nem mikh arum: —

arum, arum.

Lomir oykh zayn gliklekh.

Gliklekh, gliklekh.

A shteyn vil oykh barirung fun finger.

Finger, finger.

Es vakst a kind oykh in mayne gederim,

in mayne, in mayne.

Zolst visn, mentsh,

in mayne: —

Ikh hob arumgenumen dem likhikn shteyn

mit mayne beyde orems.

Un der shteyn hot gekukt oyf mir

mit nokh greserer derkentenish.

Varemkayt hot a shtrom geton oyf mir

fun der tif fun zayne gederim,

reykh fun blut un layb,

vi fun a trakht fun a muter.

Muter —

froy — muter,

vifl nemen ikh hob far dir

andere —

andere, andere, andere —

froy — muter.

English Translation

in sweet premonition of birth pangs.

And I heard how the stone whispered:

— human,

you are a son, a brother, a man

and for someone you are more than all this: —

smile at me;

take me around: —

around, around.

Let us also be happy.

Happy, happy.

A stone also wants touch of fingers.

Fingers, fingers.

A child grows also in my bowels,

in mine, in mine.

You should know, human,

in mine: —

I embraced the bright stone

with both my arms.

And the stone looked at me

with even greater recognition.

Warmth streamed upon me

from the depths of its bowels,

scent of blood and body,

as from a mother's thought.

Mother —

woman — mother,

how many names I have for you

other —

other, other, other —

woman — mother.

TRANSLATOR’S NOTE

Page 362. 'In a tog fun zun' continuation: the stone smiled 'in zisn forgefiln fun veyen' (in sweet premonition of birth pangs — the stone as pregnant). The stone whispers to the man: you are son, brother, husband, and for someone 'mer fun dem alem' (more than all this). The stone pleads: smile at me, embrace me, 'lomir oykh zayn gliklekh' (let us also be happy). 'A shteyn vil oykh barirung fun finger' (a stone also wants touch of fingers). Remarkably: 'es vakst a kind oykh in mayne gederim' (a child grows also in my bowels) — animating inanimate matter, stone as mother. The speaker embraces the stone; warmth streams from its 'gederim' (bowels), 'reykh fun blut un layb' (scent of blood and body). The refrain returns: 'Muter — froy — muter' (Mother — woman — mother) — the stone becomes archetypal mother-figure.

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in sweet premonition of birth pangs. · H. Leivick: Complete Works · Half-Voll Attempts