Grandma's sitting on goose eggs???
He ducked his head in sheepish laughter (and maybe a hint of embarassment) when I posed the question to him. This man (I'll call him "Zoran") is the owner of my neighborhood market and he and his wife are also my local/informal cultural advisors. Now you may be wondering what question could I have possibly asked to get this kind of response?Well.....
Several days ago I'd asked Zoran's wife if she could tell me the lyrics to the song that the kids sing for Kolede. She laughed and then grabbed a piece of paper to write it for me.... then laughed again because she couldn't remember it! "It was so long ago and I'm so much older now!" She offered that she could work on it and maybe would remember it by the time I got back from the bonfire. So I agreed to come back right before closing.
Later, with lyrics in hand, I set about trying to translate what was written. There were some words, however, that I simply had to figure out through inference. The one that really got me stuck was what was Grandma doing with the 4 goose eggs. She was either "incubating" them or "clucking like a goose with 4 eggs." I chose the second one... the seemingly less absurd of the two.
Right.
This brings me to last night. I'd just gotton home from worship practice and stopped into the store to get kiselo "sour" water (aka. bubbly water). The husband was there so I asked if I could ask him a question about the song the kids sing. "What is grandma doing?" That was when he ducked his head and laughed... I mentioned the goose eggs and he laughed all the more. I mentioned that there were two translation possiblities, and then with giggles approaching tears he assured me the correct translation was that Grandma was "incubating" (or sitting on) the eggs so that they would hatch.
Who writes this stuff???? [Though I must confess I'm intrigued about it's origin and how old it is.]
Then we got to talking about what was going on with Grandpa while Grandma was hen-sitting the eggs. That only increased the volume and boisterousness of his laughter. The tree limb (log) "ytepalo" Grandpa... Well, Zoran "translated" the word for me by smacking himself upside the head... so "struck" sounds about right, I'm thinking. But then there was the question about Grandpa's health. Translated, it sounded like Grandpa was in agony (duh!) but talking with other Macedonian friends they imply that Grandpa died![Reminder: children sing this song door-to-door with smiles on their faces.]
Zoran never did answer this question, but just laughed all the more at my reaction to discovering the "meaning" of this 'cheery song' that children sing! He was still laughing as I paid for my water, left the shop and headed up the steps to my building's entrance.
Thinking about it, I imagine my reaction would be akin to his if I had to explain to someone about the "cheery" song, "Grandma got run over by a reindeer..." Though at least we don't go singing it door-to-door in exchange for treats! ;)
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Post Script: I just asked our field office cleaning lady about the word "ytepalo." She says it's the same as to die or be killed... this song just keeps getting better :::said with tongue firmly planted in cheek::: and now she's laughing too and writing down the lyrics to another song for me that's sung on "Old New Year," January 13th. But I think I'll save that gem for later. ;)
Image sources:
"Mother Goose on Eggs' http://www.pbase.com/catherinegardner/image/28417160
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