Čokmanovo 1

Chokmanovo1.mp3

Commentary on the text:

When the investigator’s words are transcribed in brackets, it means they do not appear on the audio but are rather reconstructed to recreate the sense of the original conversation. These words appear in English translation only in Glossed View, in both English and Bulgarian in Line View, and in Bulgarian only in Cyrillic Line View

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Čokmanovo 1

1 (a) [0:01] On St. Elias’ day we went to the meadows for three days. We danced the horo, [wearing]

2 (a) [0:08] folk aprons with decorative coins. The drum would beat and we would jump about

3 (a) [0:13] as much as we could for three days. Now what can I say? There’s neither St. Elias day

4 (a) [0:17] nor is there music playing nor do they dance – nothing at all. We grannies are accustomed

5 (a) [0:22] to dancing to live music. We would see to our work, and we would go

6 (a) [0:26] far away to the plains, and there we’d mow, and gather up forty loads.

7 (a) [0:30] We’d gather up the hay and load the hay onto the mules, and come home –

8 (a) [0:36] [and then] comes the holiday. St. Elias’ day, St. Peter’s day, Holy Sunday –

9 (a) [0;40] We observed all the holidays. Now they don’t observe them. A pity for the young people!

10 (a) [0:46] It was different in the old days. It was good. Truly! [People] will say

11 (a) [0:52] that it wasn’t bad, it was good. [And I affirm that] it was good for us

12 (a) [0:55] because we knew everything, we respected our men, and we respected everything.

13 (a) [0:59] Now the young people are messed up, they’ll abandon it. We raised our children!

14 (a) [1:06] There weren’t [any] hospitals, they wasn’t anything. And now what?

15 (a) [1:11] Ohhh! [They’re not about to] respect either Grandma or Grandpa. “We’re working now,

16 (a) [1:17] we’ve got our own money.” And they kicked out the old folks. Well, let them kick them out!

17 (a) [1:23] Up here we have a – a chapel, it was called the [chapel of the] Holy Spirit.

18 (a) [1:28] There was a big dance up there at the chapel. We came back [to] the dance.

19 (a) [1:32] Ah the dances! Ah, let’s dance horo again, and laugh

20 (a) [1:36] and rejoice. What is there now? There’s nothing joyful, [there’s] nothing at all.

21 (a) [1:41] We remember what things of the past were like. They piled food on the festive table,

22 (a) [1:46] we had cabbage, potatoes, and big skin bags [of cheese].

23 (VZh) [How did you do the threshing?]

24 (a) [1:51] We threshed with mules. We finished threshing [what was on] one threshing floor,

25 (a) [1:56] two threshing floors. Here’s the wheat! Here’s the oats! Here’s the corn! The beans!

26 (a) [2:01] And we’d thresh it [all] and gather it up. And when the wind blows we’d toss it up

27 (a) [2:06] to the wind. And we loaded it onto the mules and brought it home.

28 (a) [2:09] We went to the hills to gather wood, windfall, dry wood, and green wood.

29 (a) [2:17] We bring them back and burn them on the fire. We had a fireplace here,

30 (a) [2:22] a big log. We’d put them here and here you go! We’d put the kettle to boil.

31 (VZh) [How did you celebrate weddings?]

32 (a) [2:26] [How] the wedding was celebrated: They went – first of all the hero’s (= groom’s) home.

33 (a) [2:32] They set out from there, went to the bride’s to – They covered her hair and began to sing:

34 (a) [2:37] “The fir tree bends down, bends over; the girl takes leave of her family, [singing]

35 (a) [2:40] ‘Dear old mother, you carried me nine – nine sweet months

36 (a) [2:44] next to your heart and three sweet years in your arms.’ ” They’d lead her out and then go

37 (a) [2:50] to the church [where] they married her. There wasn’t any signing [of certificates] back then,

38 (a) [2:52] they just married them. They went to the church and they registered them,

39 (a) [2:56] And that’s how it was.

1 (a) [0:01] nə əlìn'd'en' hòd'əhm'e pu trì d'èn'ə nə l'uvàtkit'e igràehme hòru səs

On St. Elias’ day we went to the meadows for three days. We danced the horo, [wearing]

2 (a) [0:08] фùsti səs ə ərmelìcit'e tɔ̀pən'ə č'ùkəš'e nìe rìpkəhme

folk aprons with decorative coins. The drum would beat and we would jump about

3 (a) [0:13] kòlkutu mòž'eme trì d'èn'ə sigà kəkvò də kàž'e n'èmə n'è elìn'd'èn'

as much as we could for three days. Now what can I say? There’s neither St. Elias day

4 (a) [0:17] n'èmə nì nì svir'àn nìtu igràjət nìtu nìštu nìe si sme bàbise nəuč'èni

nor is there music playing nor do they dance – nothing at all. We grannies are accustomed

5 (a) [0:22] nəuč’èni svir'ànə də si igràime vìd'ehme si ràptətə hòd'əhme si nìe

to dancing to live music. We would see to our work, and we would go

6 (a) [0:26] nə del'èku nəh rəvništà tàm si kus'ɛ̀hne četìrise tuvàrə zbìrəhme

far away to the plains, and there we’d mow, and gather up forty loads.

7 (a) [0:30] s'ɛ̀nu si zbìrəhme səs mùl'ətətə tuvàr'əhme si s'ɛ̀nu duhòdəhmè si

We’d gather up the hay and load the hay onto the mules, and come home –

8 (a) [0:36] ìd'e pràznikət ìd'e əlìn'd'en' ìd'e p'ètrud'èn' ìd'e svità nid'ɛ̀l'ə

[and then] comes the holiday. St. Elias’ day, St. Peter’s day, Holy Sunday –

9 (a) [0;40] nìe sìč'kit'e pràznici gi tàč'ehme sigà ni tàčet ž'ɛ̀lku zə mlàdit'e

We observed all the holidays. Now they don’t observe them. A pity for the young people!

10 (a) [0:46] əv'èlckutu vr'ɛ̀me beše drùgu hùbəvu beše v'ɛ̀rnu žə rukɔ̀t

It was different in the old days. It was good. Truly! [People] will say

11 (a) [0:52] n'è e bilò lòšu bilò e hùbəvu hùbəvu beše si

that it wasn’t bad, it was good. [And I affirm that] it was good for us

12 (a) [0:55] č'i si znàehme sìčkutu i məž'uv'ète si uvəž'ɛ̀vəhme i sìč'kutu si uvəž'ɛ̀vəhme

because we knew everything, we respected our men, and we respected everything.

13 (a) [0:59] s'egà mlàdit'e pɔ̀lnumàlu də gu ustàv'ət decà sme iskùtvəli

Now the young people are messed up, they’ll abandon it. We raised our children!

14 (a) [1:06] nè e imàlu nì bòlnici nè e imàlu nìkəkvìčku segà kəkvò

There weren’t [any] hospitals, they wasn’t anything. And now what?

15 (a) [1:11] òh nì bàbətə də uvəž'ɛ̀vət nì d'àdutu də uvəž'ɛ̀vət nìe ràptime segà

Ohhh! [They’re not about to] respect either Grandma or Grandpa. “We’re working now,

16 (a) [1:17] pərì si ìməme i stàrite hi zərìtəhə àh dà hi rìtnat

we’ve got our own money.” And they kicked out the old folks. Well, let them kick them out!

17 (a) [1:23] tùkə nəgòre ìməme m ənə pə pə pərəklìsč'ek sv'etì dùh sə kàzvaš'e

Up here we have a – a chapel, it was called the [chapel of the] Holy Spirit.