Do you know the work of Jane Peppler?
Thanks to a Youtube alert I was directed to the performance by Sveta Kundish & Daniel Kahn who had been alerted to the 1916 German theatre song "Menschen-fresser" in Jane Peppler's "Penny Songs" website. (I'll publish a link in "Traditional and Folkmusic" later)
For the ignorant like myself here are the Yiddish-German lyrics followed by English translation taken from Jane Peppler's website (sadly the Kundisch/Kahn version has no translation:
**Menshen-fresser**
In di lungen tif bagrobn voynt di blase pest
Di batsiln, di mikrobn boyen zeyer nest
Fresn undzer layb un lebn frukhpern zikh pek
Un mir muzn zelbst farshvebn far der tsayt avek
Un mir filn vi mir geyen shtil un langzam oys
Un di shmertsn un di veyen zaynen shreklekh groys
Un di finstere makhshoves gresern dem shmerts
Yorn ligt der malekh hamoves tif bay undz in herts.
Mikrobn batsiln vos vilt ir? Zogt vemes shlikhes derfilt ir?
Ir frest di korbones gor on a rakhmones, in bliyende lebn nor tsilt ir!
Ir bodt zikh in trern fun veyner ir tsit oys di markh fun di beyner
Ir samt di gederem ir krikhende verim, mikrobn batsiln vos vilt ir?
Nokh a shreklikhe mageyfe geyt fun land tsu land
Mit di shnelkeyt fun a sreyfe fun a fayer-brand!
Kleyne kinder nemt es samen, eyfelekh fun brust
Roybt avek fun tatn-mamen zeyer lebens-lust
Makhtloz iz dem mentshns zinen, s'blaybt di khokhme shtil
S'iz keyn mitl tsu gefinen gegn a batsil!
Vos paralizirt di kinder, undzer lebns-shayn
Mir dervartn gotes vunder, s'zol dos mer nit zayn!
Kep gekroynte, diplomatn, um tsu hobn zig,
Tsvingen undz tsu zayn soldatn, traybn undz in krig!
Yunge mentshn in milionen tsoln zeyer prayz
Un es vert far di kanonen zeyer fleysh a shpayz!
Un tsukripelte, un toyte, faln do un dort
naye lebns ongegreyte filn oys dem ort
Un in groyse tife kvorim pakt men laykhes fil
Un di hersher, di keysorim, shpiln shakhmat shpil
The pale pestilence lives deeply buried in the lungs
The bacilli, the microbes build their nest
They gobble us up, body and soul, and multiply a lot
And we must ourselves dwindle/fade away before our time
And we feel how we're expiring quietly and slowly,
and the suffering and crying are terribly great.
And the dark thoughts increase the pain.
For years the Angel of Death lies deep in our hearts.
Macrobes, bacilli, what do you want? Whose mission are you carrying out?
You gobble the victims mercilessly, you aim only at blooming lives
You bathe yourselves in the tears of those who weep, you suck the marrow from the bones
You poison the entrails, you crawling worms. Microbes, bacilli, what do you want?
Another terrible epidemic goes from land to land
With the speed of a blazing fire from a piece of burning wood.
It poisons little children, infants at the breast,
It robs fathers and mothers of their hearts' cheer.
Man's mind is powerless, wisdom is silenced.
Nothing can be found to stop a bacillus.
It paralyzes children, the light of our lives,
We await God's miracle that this should never come again.
Crowned heads and diplomats, in order to be victorious, force us to be soldiers,
They drive us into battle.
Young people by the millions pay their price and their flesh becomes cannon fodder.
And the crippled and dead fall here and there; new lives are prepared to take their place.
And in great deep graves many bodies are packed.
And the rulers, the kings, play chess.
In di lungen tif bagrobn voynt di blase pest
Di batsiln, di mikrobn boyen zeyer nest
Fresn undzer layb un lebn frukhpern zikh pek
Un mir muzn zelbst farshvebn far der tsayt avek
Un mir filn vi mir geyen shtil un langzam oys
Un di shmertsn un di veyen zaynen shreklekh groys
Un di finstere makhshoves gresern dem shmerts
Yorn ligt der malekh hamoves tif bay undz in herts.
Mikrobn batsiln vos vilt ir? Zogt vemes shlikhes derfilt ir?
Ir frest di korbones gor on a rakhmones, in bliyende lebn nor tsilt ir!
Ir bodt zikh in trern fun veyner ir tsit oys di markh fun di beyner
Ir samt di gederem ir krikhende verim, mikrobn batsiln vos vilt ir?
Nokh a shreklikhe mageyfe geyt fun land tsu land
Mit di shnelkeyt fun a sreyfe fun a fayer-brand!
Kleyne kinder nemt es samen, eyfelekh fun brust
Roybt avek fun tatn-mamen zeyer lebens-lust
Makhtloz iz dem mentshns zinen, s'blaybt di khokhme shtil
S'iz keyn mitl tsu gefinen gegn a batsil!
Vos paralizirt di kinder, undzer lebns-shayn
Mir dervartn gotes vunder, s'zol dos mer nit zayn!
Kep gekroynte, diplomatn, um tsu hobn zig,
Tsvingen undz tsu zayn soldatn, traybn undz in krig!
Yunge mentshn in milionen tsoln zeyer prayz
Un es vert far di kanonen zeyer fleysh a shpayz!
Un tsukripelte, un toyte, faln do un dort
naye lebns ongegreyte filn oys dem ort
Un in groyse tife kvorim pakt men laykhes fil
Un di hersher, di keysorim, shpiln shakhmat shpil
The pale pestilence lives deeply buried in the lungs
The bacilli, the microbes build their nest
They gobble us up, body and soul, and multiply a lot
And we must ourselves dwindle/fade away before our time
And we feel how we're expiring quietly and slowly,
and the suffering and crying are terribly great.
And the dark thoughts increase the pain.
For years the Angel of Death lies deep in our hearts.
Macrobes, bacilli, what do you want? Whose mission are you carrying out?
You gobble the victims mercilessly, you aim only at blooming lives
You bathe yourselves in the tears of those who weep, you suck the marrow from the bones
You poison the entrails, you crawling worms. Microbes, bacilli, what do you want?
Another terrible epidemic goes from land to land
With the speed of a blazing fire from a piece of burning wood.
It poisons little children, infants at the breast,
It robs fathers and mothers of their hearts' cheer.
Man's mind is powerless, wisdom is silenced.
Nothing can be found to stop a bacillus.
It paralyzes children, the light of our lives,
We await God's miracle that this should never come again.
Crowned heads and diplomats, in order to be victorious, force us to be soldiers,
They drive us into battle.
Young people by the millions pay their price and their flesh becomes cannon fodder.
And the crippled and dead fall here and there; new lives are prepared to take their place.
And in great deep graves many bodies are packed.
And the rulers, the kings, play chess.
And the modern update.
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2 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.I didn't like Jane's voice. I watched the second ... very depressing,.
rogerbenham
Level 8
July 22, 2020
1
C'est la vie.
Although you may not like Jane's voice her site is an interesting, comprehensive & extensive resource. "Jane Peppler's Website - A fantastic resource"
But perhaps you simply do not like the ethnicity/religion?
No...can’t say I know anything about Jane Peppler. Interesting post from a historical point of view. Depressing as hell to waken up to first thing in the a.m.!
Marionville
Level 10
July 22, 2020
1
Yawn. What do you expect from a god that still demands that male followers foreskins be sacrificed when they cannot make reasoned adult decision. However it is very prescient in current circumstances but perhaps you wish to pretend that the current pandemic doesn't exist & that your PM has everything under control.
@FrayedBear Get off your high horse...I am above all a realist and acknowledge the pandemic and it’s current attendant multitude of tragic deaths. And no, I do not think the U.K. PM has acted brilliantly during this crisis, in fact our government has been shambolic in certain of its responses, and many deaths could and indeed should have been avoided had they taken certain measures at an earlier time. Just because I find your post depressing, doesn’t mean I didn’t find it pertinent, the two things do not conflate. Oh, and by the way I have actually actively campaigned against circumcision in both male and female children, as I believe it is the most egregious child abuse.
@Marionville lol. I made the post in my early morning.
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