1. 1.
Tam, tam, tam, tam, Tam, tam, tam, tam,
Rapetanplan. Rapetanplan.
Artzain zaharrac tafarnan. The old shepherds (are) at the inn.
Hordi gira? Are we drunk?
Ez, ezgira. No, we are not.
Basoak detzagun bira! Long live the glass!
Iohoho! Iohoho! Iohoho! Hohoho! Hohoho! Hohoho!
Basoak detzagun bira! Long live the glass!
2. 2.
Tam, tam, tam, tam, Tam, tam, tam, tam,
Rapetanplan. Rapetanplan.
Nork joiten derauku borthan? Who knocks at the door?
Behabada Perhaps
Otsoa da! It's the wolf!
Nihor ez gaiten athera! We won't go to the door, not one (of us)!
Iohoho! Iohoho! Iohoho! Hohoho! Hohoho! Hohoho!
Basoak detzagun bira! Long live the glass!
3. 3.
Tam, tam, tam, tam, Tam, tam, tam, tam,
Rapetanplan. Rapetanplan.
Uria hari karrikan. The rain begins in the street.
Gauden hemen, Let us stop the night here,
Arno hunen This good wine
Gostu onean edaten. To drink with pleasure.
Iohoho! Iohoho! Iohoho! Hohoho! Hohoho! Hohoho!
Gauden gostuan edaten! In the night to drink with pleasure!
4. 4.
Tam, tam, tam, tam, Tam, tam, tam, tam,
Rapetanplan. Rapetanplan.
Babazuza tarrapatan! The hail comes rattling down!
Dugun edan Let us drink
Hamarretan. For the tenth time.
Aberats gira gau huntan. We are rich to-night.
Iohoho! Iohoho! Iohoho! Hohoho! Hohoho! Hohoho!
Aberats gira gau hutan. We are rich this night.
5. 5.
Tam, tam, tam, tam, Tam, tam, tam, tam,
Rapetanplan. Rapetanplan.
Ez dut minik sabeletan! I am so jolly inside!
Nahi nuke I wish (I could live)
Ehun urthe, A hundred years,
Hola egon banindaite! If I might remain like this!
Iohoho! Iohoho! Iohoho! Hohoho! Hohoho! Hohoho!
Hola egon banindaite! If I might remain like this!
6. 6.
Tam, tam, tam, tam, Tam, tam, tam, tam,
Rapetanplan. Rapetanplan.
Arnorik ez da boteilan! There's no more wine in the bottle!
Ostalera, Landlord,
Ez ikhara, Don't be afraid,
Arnoko bethi sos bada! There's always money for wine!
Iohoho! Iohoho! Iohoho! Hohoho! Hohoho! Hohoho!
Arnoko bethi sos bada! There's always money for wine!
7. 7.
Tam, tam, tam, tam, Tam, tam, tam, tam,
Rapetanplan. Rapetanplan.
Zer othe dut beguietan? What's gone wrong with my eyes?
Non da bortha? Where's the door?
Airatu da. It has flown away.
Mahaya dantzan dabila! The table's beginning to dance!
Iohoho! Iohoho! Iohoho! Hohoho! Hohoho! Hohoho!
Mahaya dantzan dabila! The table's beginning to dance!
8. 8.
Tam, tam, tam, tam, Tam, tam, tam, tam,
Rapetanplan. Rapetanplan.
Zangoak amor bidean! My feet won't go straight on the road!
Hanketan min! I'm bad in my legs!
Gaizo, Martin, To-morrow, Martin,
Urkatsik ez dirok egin! You will not be able to walk at all!
Iohoho! Iohoho! Iohoho! Hohoho! Hohoho! Hohoho!
Urkatsik ez dirok egin! You will not be able to walk at all!
9. 9.
Tam, tam, tam, tam, Tam, tam, tam, tam,
Rapetanplan. Rapetanplan.
Eri-tchar naiz hilzekotan. I am very ill, I am like to die.
Sendo nintzan I should have been cured
Aski edan; Had I drunk enough;
Izan banu gau hunetan, If I had but this night,
Iohoho! Iohoho! Iohoho! Hohoho! Hohoho! Hohoho!
Aski edan gau hunetan! Drunk enough this night!
It is not at all uncommon in a country where, within the space of some
twenty miles, the traveller may hear at least four languages--French,
Gascoun, Basque, and Spanish--to find two or more of these mixed in
the same poem, and sometimes with a little Latin as well. This occurs
frequently in the noëls, where the angel speaks in French or Latin,
and the shepherds reply in Gascoun or Basque; also sometimes in the
love songs, where the French or Spanish lover will try to soften the
heart of a Basque maiden by compliments in French or Spanish, while she
greatest tour de force of this kind we know, both as to language and
rhyme, is the song given in Fr. Michel's "Le Pays Basque," p. 429. We
quote the first verse only; but the song continues with twenty-eight
successive Basque rhymes in "in," and the last seven in "en."
Latin. Sed libera nos a malo. Deliver us from evil.
Sit nomen Domini. God's holy Name be
praised;
Spanish. Vamos á cantar un Let's sing a song, my
canto para diverti. friends, and a joyous
clamour raise;
Basque. Jan dugunaz gueroz For we of rare good
chahalki houneti meat have eaten to our
fill,
Basque. Eta edan ardoa And the good wine of
Juranzouneti. Jurançon
French. Chantons, chantons, have drunken at our
mes chers amis, je will. Then sing,
suis content pardi! friends, sing, i'faith,
I'm right well pleased!
Gascoun. Trinquam d'aquest Let's hear the
boun bi, glasses ring,
Basque. Eta dezagun canta And our new song, my
cantore berri. friends, let's all
together sing.
Almost every one of these Basque songs, like all true lyrics,
has been adapted to some tune, either older than the words, or
composed specially by the author. The music is often superior to
the words. In the Nineteenth Century for August, 1878, Grant-Duff
speaks of some of the Basque airs sung by the Béarnais tenor,
Pascal Lamazou, as "extraordinarily beautiful." [214] Lamazou died
at Pau in May, 1878. His répertoire consisted of fifty Pyrenean
songs, of which thirty-four are Béarnais, fourteen Basque, and two
are from the "Pyrénées Orientales." [215] One of the Basque airs
"Artzaina," has somehow got attached to the popular American hymn,
"I want to be an angel." Another, and larger collection, including
more correct renderings of some of Lamazou's fourteen, is that of
Sallaberry, "Chants Populaires du Pays Basque" (Bayonne, 1870). But,
long before this, a collection of Basque Songs, Zorzicos, and dance
music was published in San Sebastian, by J. D. Iztueta, in 1824 and
1826. Excellent reviews of these two works, with translations of
some of the words, appeared in the Foreign Review and Continental
Miscellany, vol. ii., pp. 338, 1828; and in vol. iv., p. 198. Some
specimens of music are to be found at the end of Michel's "Le Pays
Basque," in the "Cancionero Vasco"--now in course of publication,
and so often referred to--and in other local publications, besides
those in private hands. Basquophiles love to narrate that Rossini
passed a summer in the Basque village of Cambo, and believe that they
can recognise the influence of Basque airs in some of his subsequent
operas. However this may be, let no one judge of Basque music by the
noëls usually howled in the streets at Christmas and the New Year,
or by the doleful productions of the last Carlist War. It would
be equally fair to judge of English music by the serenades of the
waits at Christmas. We refer those who wish to investigate further
the subject of this chapter to the excellent work, "Le Pays Basque,"
par M. Fr. Michel (Paris and London, 1857), for the French, to the
"Cancionero Vasco," by Don José Manterola, now in course of publication
at San Sebastian, for the Spanish, Basque; and to M. Sallaberry's
"Chants Populaires du Pays Basque" for the music.