The pentecost rose
Tomorrow, June 5 and moreover Monday June 6, are public holidays in Hungary. No shopping in Hungary unless you live next to a ”non-stop” grocery. It’s Pünkösd.
The two-syllable word PÜN – KÖSD is the Hungarian answer to our word borrowing practice, this time from the Greek πεντηκοστή (pentékoszté) – pent – PÜN – kostea – KÖSD pronounced with a ’zh’ due to assimilation.
PÜNKÖSD has two major connotations in Hungarian folklore:
The Pentecost King – someone whose sudden rise to power ends abruptly
The Pünkösdi Rózsa, the Pentecost rose, to put it in a prosaic way: peony
Briefly, the story of the Pentecost King is as follows: in bygone times in villages a man was elected to be the Pentecost King for a year by winning games of skill. For that period he enjoyed several privileges like being invited to all the local weddings, and he could run a tab in the local pub for a whole year while the community paid for all the drink he consumed. We still use the term for easy-come easy-go politicians and businessmen.
However, my vote is for the ROSE. It’s mainly because if you hear ’pünkösdi rózsa’ the next line of the popular folk song comes to your mind ’kihajlott az útra’ (The peony hung out over the street). You normally stop there but I did some research and I discovered treasures. There are many variations of the song but the most beautiful and archaic version is the one I want to share with you. At my request, Paul Merrick, an excellent Liszt and Bartók expert living in Hungary did a wonderful translation of the lyrics which turned out to be a love-drama. At the same time, I discovered a lovely bunch of young Hungarian musicians who perform the same song – the lyrics are a bit different though.
Click here: A Köztársaság Bandája is their name (The Band of the Republic)
Either way, if you devote 4 minutes of your precious time, you won’t regret it. Due to the PC rules set up by this forum I am not in a position to decode the hidden symbolic content of the song. Your guess.
The English and then the Hungarian text:
Pentecost Rose [Peony]
The peony hung out over the street
And the pole of my cart also stuck out.
I don’t know, my love, is it for good or bad,
For good or bad, or sadness till I die.
Sunday morning bright, I’ll go into the street,
Sunday morning bright, I’ll go into the street.
I’ll see my sweetheart, she’ll see me too,
I’ll see my sweetheart, she’ll see me too.
The peony blooms in the summer
The peony blooms in the summer.
And then my love will get married,
And then my love will get married.
Refr.
I don’t know, my love, is it for good or bad,
For good or bad, or sadness till I die.
The original Hungarian with an archaic touch:
A pünkösdi rózsa kihajlott az útra,
Nékem es kihajlott szekeremnek rúdja.
Nem tudom édesem, jóra-e, vaj rosszra,
Jóra-e, vaj rosszra, vaj holtig a bánatra.
Vasárnap jó reggel, kimenék az útra,
Vasárnap jó reggel, kimenék az útra.
Látám édesemet, s ő is láta engem,
Látám édesemet, s ő is láta engem.
A pünkösdi rózsa nyárba virágozik,
A pünkösdi rózsa nyárba virágozik.
És az én édesem akkor házasodik,
És az én édesem akkor házasodik.
Refr:
Nem tudom édesem, jóra-e, vaj rosszra,
Jóra-e, vaj rosszra, vaj holtig a bánatra.
