Transformations

Sometimes I just get these impulses. Tonight it was "If I'm covering Dragostea Din Tei, do it in Esperanto". So...

Here is the song in the original Romanian.

Dragostea Din Tei

Intro:
Ma-ia-hii
Ma-ia-huu
Ma-ia-haa
Ma-ia-haha

Verse 1:
Alo, Salut, sunt eu, un haiduc
Si te rog, iubirea mea, primeste fericirea.
Alo, alo, sunt eu Picasso
Ti-am dat beep, si sunt voinic
Dar sa stii nu-ti cer nimic

Chorus:
Vrei sa pleci dar
nu ma, nu ma iei
Nu ma, nu ma iei
nu ma, nu ma, nu ma iei.
Chipul tau si dragostea din tei
Mi-amintesc de ochii tai

Verse 2:
Te sun, sa-ti spun, ce simt acum
Alo, iubirea mea, sunt eu, fericirea
Alo, alo, sunt iarasi eu, Picasso
Ti-am dat beep, si sunt voinic
Dar sa stii nu-ti cer nimic

And here is an English translation from the net.

Love from the Linden Trees

Intro:
Miya-hee
Miya-hoo
Miya-ho
Miya-haha[1]

Verse 1:
Hello, greetings, it's me, an outlaw,
I ask you, my love, to accept happiness.
Hello, hello, it's me, Picasso,
I sent you a beep, and I'm brave[2],
But you should know that I'm not asking for anything from you.

Chorus:
You want to leave but you
don't want, don't want to take me
don't want, don't want to take me
don't want, don't want, don't want, to take me
Your face and the love from the linden trees
And I remember your eyes

Verse 2:
I call you, to tell you, what I feel, right now
Hello, my love, it's me, your happiness.
Hello, hello, it's me again, Picasso,
I sent you a beep and I'm brave ,
But you should know that I'm not asking for anything from you.

Now, this is my translation of the English version into Esperanto[3], assisted with my rudimentary cognate-reading of the Romanian. I've tried to keep the pattern of syllabification and inflexion from the original, at the expense of proper sentences and easy scansion.

Kalkaboramo[4]

Intro:
Maja-hi
Maja-hu
Maja-ha
Maja-haha[5]

Verse 1:
Halo, angxelo, mi donas, ribelo
Petanta, amorulo ja, akcepti, felicxeco
Halo, halo, estas mi, Kapitano
Mia mesagxo, de la kuragxo
Mi ne petas avantagxo

Chorus:
Las' amoru
Mi ne placxas vin
Mi ne placxas vin
Mi ne mi ne placxas vin
Via vizagxo, kalkaboroam'
Memoras vin cxiam

Verse 2:
Komenci, resumo, kiu sentas, je nuno
Halo, amorulo ja, mi estas, felicxeco
Halo, halo, denove kapitano
Kaj la mesagxo, donas kuragxon
Sed vivo estas nur romano

And finally, here is my fairly literal English translation of the Esperanto version.

Love from the Linden Trees

Intro:
Miya-hee
Miya-hoo
Miya-ho
Miya-haha

Verse 1:
Hello, angel[6], I give, rebellion
Asking you, lover (yes), to accept happiness
Hello, hello, it's me, Kapitano[7]
My message, of courage
I don't ask for an advantage

Chorus:
Let love go
I don't please you
I don't please you
I don't I don't please you
Your face, linden-tree-love
Remember you always

Verse 2:
Begin, to summarise, what (I) feel, right now
Hello, lover (yes), I am, happiness
Hello, hello, Kapitano again
And the message, gives courage
But life is only a story

Mp3 if/when I get around to recording it.


[1] As I understand it, these sounds don't mean anything in Romanian, so it's okay to simply transliterate them.
[2] The Romanian "Voinic" can be "Brave" (esperanto "Kuragxa") or "Strong" (esperanto "forta").
[3] I'm using the common ASCII representation of Esperanto's superscript characters, where an "x" indicates a circimflex over the preceeding letter.
[4] Literally, Lime-tree-love. The Romanian nuance of the title can't be briefly translated into English, and I haven't tried to translate it into Esperanto.
[5] Again, this is a simple transliteration from the Romanian, this time into the closest Esperanto sounds.
[6] Esperanto doesn't use Angxelo (Angel) as a term of endearment between lovers, but I've stretched a point to get a good rhyme.
[7] I couldn't resist replacing the original "Picasso" with my moniker. Sorry.