Tale to size


write you the tale about the bear and the crown. let there be also the padishah of Madjaristan.
comment by Anna to the previous post (in the Hungarian version of the blog)

Illustration of Gennadiy Pavlishin to the Tales of the river Amur
Once upon a time there was a bear living in the middle of a big round forest. The crowns of the high trees of the forest leaned against each other like the vault of a church. Under them there was an eternal, pleasant half-light reigning, no rain poured and no wind raged ever. The bear loved the forest very much, he loved to go around in it and to have talks with the other animals about the things of the forest. And he thought it would be like this in all his life.

Illustration of Gennadiy Pavlishin to the Tales of the river AmurIllustrations of Gennadiy Pavlishin to the Tales of the river Amur

On a day, however, the bear somehow got to the edge of the forest, of which he had known only from hearsay before. He came out from between the trees, and caught sight of the blue sky with the sun shining on it brilliantly. Unknown flowers were blooming on the meadow and deers were grazing on it, whom the bear had never seen before – their huge antlers were too large for the thick forest. “My God, how beautiful is the world outside the forest!” – the bear thought in astonishment. From that time on he went day by day to the edge of the forest to have a look at that wonderful view, until on a day he said: “I go and see what else is there in the world over the meadow.” And he left the forest without looking back any more.



Photis Ionatos: Ithaca, poem by Kavafis. From the CD “Ithaque”

Κωνσταντίνος Π. Καβάφης:
Ιθάκη

Σα βγεις στον πηγαιμό για την Ιθάκη,
να εύχεσαι νάναι μακρύς ο δρόμος,
γεμάτος περιπέτειες, γεμάτος γνώσεις.
Τους Λαιστρυγόνας και τους Κύκλωπας,
τον θυμωμένο Ποσειδώνα μη φοβάσαι,
τέτοια στον δρόμο σου ποτέ σου δεν θα βρεις,
αν μεν' η σκέψις σου υψηλή, αν εκλεκτή
συγκίνησις το πνεύμα και το σώμα σου αγγίζει.
Τους Λαιστρυγόνας και τους Κύκλωπας,
τον άγριο Ποσειδώνα δεν θα συναντήσεις,
αν δεν τους κουβανείς μες στην ψυχή σου,
αν η ψυχή σου δεν τους στήνει εμπρός σου.

Να εύχεσαι νάναι μακρύς ο δρόμος.
Πολλά τα καλοκαιρινά πρωϊά να είναι
που με τι ευχαρίστησι, με τι χαρά
θα μπαίνεις σε λιμένας πρωτοειδωμένους,
να σταματήσεις σ' εμπορεία Φοινικικά,
και τες καλές πραγμάτειες ν' αποκτήσεις,
σεντέφια και κοράλλια, κεχριμπάρια κ' έβενους,
και ηδονικά μυρωδικά κάθε λογής,
όσο μπορείς πιο άφθονα ηδονικά μυρωδικά,
σε πόλεις Αιγυπτιακές πολλές να πας,
να μάθεις και να μάθεις απ' τους σπουδασμένους.

Πάντα στον νου σου νάχεις την Ιθάκη.
Το φθάσιμον εκεί ειν' ο προορισμός σου.
Αλλά μη βιάζεις το ταξείδι διόλου.
Καλλίτερα χρόνια πολλά να διαρκέσει
και γέρος πια ν' αράξεις στο νησί,
πλούσιος με όσα κέρδισες στο δρόμο,
μη προσδοκώντας πλούτη να σε δώσει η Ιθάκη.
Η Ιθάκη σ'έδωσε τ' ωραίο ταξείδι.
Χωρίς αυτήν δεν θάβγαινες στον δρόμο.
Άλλα δεν έχει να σε δώσει πια.

Κι αν πτωχική την βρεις, η Ιθάκη δε σε γέλασε.
Έτσι σοφός που έγινες, με τόση πείρα,
ήδη θα το κατάλαβες οι Ιθάκες τι σημαίνουν.
....Konstantinos P. Kavafis:
Ithaca

As you set out for Ithaca
hope your road is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
angry Poseidon - don't be afraid of them:
you' ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
wild Poseidon - you won't encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope your road is a long one.
May there be many summer mornings when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you enter harbours you're seeing for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind -
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to learn and go on learning from their scholars.

Keep Ithaca always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you're destined for.
But don't hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you're old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you've gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaca to make you rich.
Ithaca gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you wouldn't have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaca won't have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you'll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

During his long journey he met many strange creatures,





saw and heard a lot of strange things,


learned a lot,


made acquaintance with the forgotten streets and backyards of the cities,


some times he got in trouble, but he always managed to fight out of it.


Finally on a day he happened to get to the land of the padishah of Madjaristan.


The padishah of Madjaristan, the terrible tyrant was just struggling with problems of succession out of his own fault.


He thus announced that his beautiful daughter came to an age to marry and was waiting for suitors. And the suitors started to arrive from the direction of the four winds, all kinds of princes and counts and selected Gypsy lads. The princess, however, did not want any of them, because long time before she had seen in a dream that none else but a flying bear would be her choice, arriving to her from a faraway land.

Cheburashka from the modern lubok series by Andrej KuznetsovCheburashka from the modern lubok series by Andrej Kuznetsov

She was sitting day and night on the highest point of the castle and watching whether there is a bear nearing who looks like a small black cloud.



Savina Yannatou and the Primavera en Salonico: Ya salió de la mar la galana (The lady has already come out of the sea), a Sephardic song from Thessaloniki, from the CD “Primavera en Salonico” (Spring in Saloniki)

Muchachicha está en el baño
vestida de colorado.
Échate a la mar.
Échate a la mar y alcanza
– échate a la mar.


A la mar yo bien me echava,
si la suegra licencia me dava.
Échate a la mar.
Échate a la mar y alcanza
– échate a la mar.


Ya salió de la mar la galana
con un vestido al y blanco
ya salió de la mar.

Entre la mar y el río
mos creció un árbol de bembrillo
ya salió de la mar.

La novia ya salió del baño,
el novio ya la está esperando
ya salió de la mar.

Entre la mar y la arena
mos creció un árbol de almendra
ya salió de la mar.
................The girl is in the bath
vested in red.
Swim into the sea.
Swim into the sea and come back
– swim into the sea.


I would happily swim into the sea
if my mother-in-law gave permission.
Swim into the sea.
Swim into the sea and come back
– swim into the sea.


The lady has already come out of the sea
in a red and white vest
she has come out of the sea.

Between the sea and the river
a tree of quince has grown
she has come out of the sea.

The bride has already come out of the bath,
the bridegroom is waiting for her
she has come out of the sea.

Between the sea and the sand
an almond tree has grown
she has come out of the sea.



As soon as she caught sight of him, she immediately recognized him: no doubt, this was the bear she had seen in her dream. She has immediately led him to her father who gave them his blessing together with his crown and half of his kingdom.


And they threw a big wedding party, made merry, the dishes and drinks covered all place from Hencida to as far as Bonchida, and it would have spread even further, but the road over the mountain from Bonchida to Szék was not yet made and even the musicians from Szék had to come to the wedding over Szamosújvár. I was also there, dancing till morning, eating and drinking, seeing and hearing everything, just like I have told it now to you.

Let them live happily until they die and a thousand times more.


7 comentarios:

Julia dijo...

Precioso y nuestro agradecimiento también a Anna por impulsarte a hacerlo.
Más allá de la imagen del oso y la corona de la tapa del libro ¿cómo se fue dando la relación con las demás imágenes y el texto? ¿Buscaste imágenes que concordaran con la historia o las imágenes fueron guiando la historia?
La música es exquisita, además. Pocas cosas me conmueven más que las canciones zefardíes, son como la esencia de lo melancólico.

Studiolum dijo...

In principio erat imago. Pues estoy historiador de arte, y no escritor :)

Estaba buscando imágenes en la red húngara y rusa, y las que particularmente me gustaban poco a poco tejieron el cuento...

¿Qué es esa mar en tu avatar?

Julia dijo...

Como diría Argenzola "No es cielo, ni es azul".
No es la mar, es el Río de la Plata, el mar dulce como lo llamaron los exploradores españoles.
Al fondo se ve la ciudad de Buenos Aires tapada de humo (por una circunstancia especial, siempre hay smog, pero nunca tanto.
Si uno cruza el Rio para ir a Uruguay hay largas horas de navegación (a vela) en que no se ve ni una orilla ni la otra. Yo hace tiempo que no lo hago, pero mis padres van varias veces por año.

Repito mi admiración por las imágenes que ilustran el post ¿de dónde es la del gatito rojo?

Studiolum dijo...

Es siempre de hiero.ru, pero no sabría exactamente el url. Como ves, hay dos o tres imágenes donde falta el enlace, porque las descargué sin guardar el url. Quizá si buscas en images.google.com por "кошка site:hiero.ru" lo hallarás... o se no, sí muchos otros gatitos divertidos...

¡Bonito, el mar dulce! Espero verla personalmente una vez.

Julia dijo...

La invitación a navegarlo está abierta y sin fecha de caducidad (bueno, en realidad mientras se mantenga la juventud de mi padre, el capitán, pero esperamos que sean largos años!)

Vita dijo...

how absolutely lovely!
I am glad my fish is taking part in this adventure
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vita-minchik/2239211114/in/set-72157603696863007/

Studiolum dijo...

…and your beautiful and evocative cats too! http://hiero.ru/2070525

and, in top of all that, the part played by both was extremely decisive in the life of the small bear.

Thank you for your wonderful drawings!

Do you prefer me to change the present hiero.ru link of the fish for the flickr link? (given that Río Wang is more visited by English-speaking than by Russian-speaking people)