Να μου το πάρης, Ύπνε μου
Να μου το πάρης, Ύπνε μου
Take Him in Charge, Kind Sleep
Children's Song
Children's Song
(Greek)
(English)
Να μου το πάρης, Ύπνε μου, τρεις βίγλες θα του βάλω,
τρεις βίγλες, τρεις βιγλάτορες, κ' οι τρεις αντρειωμένοι.
Βάλλω τον 'Ηλιο στα βουνά, τον αετό στους κάμπους,
τον κυρ Βοριά το δροσερό ανάμεσα πελάγου.
Ο Ήλιος εβασίλεψεν, ο αϊτός αποκοιμήθει,
κι ο κυρ Βοριάς ο δροσερός στης μάνας του πηγαίνει.
- Γιε μ', που 'σουν χτες, πού 'σουν προχτές,
που 'σουν την άλλην νύχτα;
Μήνα με τ άστρι μάλωνες,
μήνα με το φεγγάρι,
μήνα με τον αυγερινό,
που 'μεστ' αγαπημένοι;
- Μήτε με τ' άστρι μάλωνα,
μήτε με το φεγγάρι,
μήτε με τον αυγερινό,
όπου στ' αγαπημένοι,
χρυσόν υγιόν εβίγλιζα'ς την αργυρή του κούνια.
A. Passow 213, CCLXXXIV
"Take him in charge, kind sleep; three sentinels I'll give him
Three sentinels, three guardians, and mighty ones all three-
The sun upon the mountains, the eagle in the fields,
And Sir Boreas, the cold wind, for guardian on the sea."
The sun went down, and the eagle fell asleep;
Sir Boreas, the cool wind, went in to the mother's house.
"My son, where wert thou yesterday,
The day and the night before?
Or wast thou warring with the stars,
Or was it with the moon,
Or was it with the morning-star -
And we good friends together?"
"I was not warring with the stars,
Nor warring with the moon,
Not warring with the morning-star -
And ye good friends together;
But I watched by the silver cradle that held a golden boy".
A. Passow 213, CCLXXXIV
Notes
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We wanted to modernize the Greek text for this song (change of spelling officially adopted in: 1982). We found the song on the internet in the more modern text. That's what we used above. The version above is slightly different from the original ancient text we were given. Below is the original version:
The modern Greek text for Take Him Charge Kind Sleep at the top of the page comes from Για τους Κρητικούς όλου του κόσμου.
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Transliteration
Na moo to parees eepne moo, trees veeghles tha soo valo
Na moo to parees eepne moo, trees veeghles tha soo valo,
Trees veeghles, trees veeghlatores ke ee trees anoryomenee
Vazo ton eelyo sta voona ke ton eto stoos kamboos
Ton keer Vorea to throssero anamessa pelaghoo
O eelyos evasseelepse ke o aftos apokeemeethee
Ke o keer Voreas o throsseros stee mana too eeyenee
Ye moo ke poo 'soon khtes prokhtes, poo 'soon tin ali nikhta
Meena me t'astra malones, meena me to fengaree
Meena me ton avyereeno, poo 'maste agapeemenee*
Meene me t'astra 'alona, meete me to fengaree
Meete me ton avyereeno, opoo 'ste eghapeemenee
Khreesson eeyon eveeghleeza stin aryeeree too koonya
"e" as in "red"
"gh": gargling sound without vibrations
"th" as in "thick, thin"
"kh" as Spanish "j" or German "ch" as in Bach.
Thanks and Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Thomy Verrou at the Institute for Balkan Studies in Greece for contributing and translating this song. Many thanks also to Monique Palomares for the transliteration and to Marietta Parianos for checking and helping with it.
Ευχαριστώ πολύ!
