a Polish Romani tale, from Izydor Kopernicki, Textes tsiganes (1930)

A comic tale of a foolish girl and the husband who was no wiser, told among the Romani of southern Poland and written down by Izydor Kopernicki in 1875–77. This tale is sexually explicit; Kopernicki printed its translation in Latin. The girl begs her father for what she heard a soldier boast of and is beaten for it; her answer on the fifth night of her marriage sends her husband to the judge, her father's trick with cakes and a little pan gets the husband his way, and her own simplicity then takes her and her little pan to the smith.

Translation

There is a man who has no wife, but he had a pretty daughter living with him. Well, one day her father said to her: "Just go, my daughter, to the water and wash out the clothes." But that daughter was a little foolish. She went to wash the clothes. And whom does she see? Two soldiers going to an execution. Then the first soldier saw that girl, and he says to the other soldier: "If I could come upon such a pretty girl, so that I could twist her even once, I would bear a hundred canes on my backside."

The girl heard it, and she came home. Her father asks her: "Did you beat out the clothes?" — "I beat them out, father; but, father dear, I saw something here: two servants were going along and saying to each other: oh, if I could come upon such a pretty girl, so that I could twist her even once, I would take a hundred sticks on my backside." And she, that daughter: "Father dear, twist me, father, you!" But the father will not, because she is his daughter. But the daughter keeps on after him.

At last the father fell into a rage, took a cane, and beat his daughter hard. Then he asks her: "Have I twisted you out well?" And she answered him: "Very well!" So she stays with her father five years. Then she married. But the husband was as foolish as the wife.

Well, when he had begun to sleep with her, and maybe four days had already gone by, on the fifth night he says to his wife: "Lie down, I'm going to twist you!" And she answers him: "My father twisted me out once already, so no one will twist me any more." Then he says to himself, all alone: "He twisted out his own daughter, and he gave her to me!" So in the morning the foolish man got up and went to the judge. He said to the judge: "Oh, that man used to twist his own daughter, and he gave her away to me."

So the judge called him into the tavern, that man whose daughter she was, and they ask that man: "What have you done with your daughter?" But the man was wise, and he told them how it was: "She told me that I should twist her; so I got angry, took a stick, and beat her hard, and asked her whether I had twisted her out well. And she said: well! I gave her to a husband. But the husband is as foolish as she is." — "Well, go on home now, with God," the judge said.

Then that son-in-law of his came to his father, the one who had given his daughter away to him: "Father dear, tell me, how can I contrive to twist her even once?" — "Well, listen: go into town, buy yourself three cakes at two pennies apiece, and put them under your pillow, and in the night get up and eat. She will ask you: what are you eating? And you tell her: 'Oh, I'm eating cakes'; and when she asks you to give her some, give her some once. When she asks you a second time, give her some. And when she asks you the third time, then tell her this: 'You have a little pan; bring it, and I'll bake, and I'll give you some.'"

Good: he went into town, bought himself three cakes at two pennies apiece, came home, put them under his pillow, lay down at night on the bed, and she lay down with him. In the night he took the cakes and ate. She asks him: "What are you eating?" He told her: "Oh, I'm eating a cake." She asks him to give her some. He gave her some. She said to him: "Very good!" She asks him a second time; he gave her some.

The third time she asks him to give her some, and he said to her: "Listen: I have none left now, but you have a little pan; bring it, and I'll bake, and I'll give you some." She said to him: "Well then, bake!" He got on top of her and twisted away, in the end, saving your presence, until a fart went off. She asks him: "What have you done?" — "The little pan has cracked."

In the morning the woman and the man got up. The man gave her three silver pieces, to go into town and buy something. She got herself ready and went. Where did she go? To her father. Her father asks her: "Where are you going?" — "I've come to you, father; I'll tell you something."

"And what will you tell me?" "We had a feast here last night: my husband baked cakes, and the whole night we baked and ate." Her father asks her: "Why didn't you bring me any, my daughter?" — "Father dear, there's nothing left now, only the little pan is still greasy; let my father come, let him lick it out." Well, the father said nothing to her, because she was foolish.

And where did she go, that woman? To a smith. He was not at home, only his servant. She came into the smithy; the servant asks her kindly: "Why have you come here?" But he saw that she was a pretty woman. The woman says: "I have come, sir, for the gentleman to do my little pan for me." The smith asks her: "Show me!" She lifted up her leg and showed him her privates.

He asks her: "Have you got money, woman?" — "I have!" — "How much?" — "Three silver pieces!" So she gave him those three silver pieces; he called her into the smithy, told her to lie down, got on top of her and did that little pan, until at last he stopped. Then he says to her: "Now no one will spoil your little pan any more."

She came home to her husband. Her husband asks her: "What did you buy in town?" — "What would I have bought? You spoiled my little pan; I went to the smith, I gave him three silver pieces, and he did it for me." The husband took a stick and beat that wife of his. The woman took herself off, ran away, and did not come home until night. They live on, but I don't know how.

Colophon

Translated from the Polish Romani of Textes tsiganes: contes et poésies avec traduction française, by Izydor Kopernicki (Kraków: Polska Akademja Umiejętności, 1930, fascicle 2), pp. 217–222, tale 25, Pał e dylini terni romni, "About the foolish young wife". The text was transcribed from the page images of the New York University copy digitized by Google. Kopernicki's translation, which for this tale he gave in Latin, and his notes were not consulted. Words were checked in Sowa's Wörterbuch des Dialekts der deutschen Zigeuner (1898), Miklosich's Über die Mundarten und die Wanderungen der Zigeuner Europa's VII (1876), and Smart and Crofton's The Dialect of the English Gypsies (1875). Bonghiarel is built on bango, crooked (Smart and Crofton, Bongo, "crooked"; Sowa gives the verb as "to bend"), and elsewhere in this book it is the turning of a magic ring on the finger; the English keeps "twist" all through, for the soldier's word for having a girl, for the father's beating ("twisted you out", avri-bonghiarghiom, said just after the girl has been beating out the washing) and for the husband's misunderstanding. An urdo is a soldier (Sowa, lurdo, "Soldat"; the book's other tales use urde for a king's troops); the girl calls the two of them sługaghia, servants. Pre ezekucïa is the Polish egzekucja, which can mean the carrying out of a sentence or the forced collection of a debt by soldiers; the tale does not say which, and the English keeps "to an execution". Doresav, "if I came upon", is from resava, "to hit, to come upon" (Sowa); vytryminavas is from the Polish wytrzymać, to bear. Bhuł is the backside (Sowa, bul, "Steiß, Hintern"); rovli is a cane or cudgel, and kašt a stick (Sowa, kašt, "Holz; Stock"; Smart and Crofton, Kosht, "stick"). Kurel avri o-renti, to beat out the clothes, is from kurel, to beat (Miklosich, kur; Smart and Crofton, Koor), and renti, clothes, as the book's other tales use it for dressing and undressing. The čibało is the judge (Miklosich, čib: čibalo, "Richter"); a džamutro is a son-in-law (Miklosich). A bokheli is a cake or bun (Miklosich, bokoli: bread, honey cake, roll), and the šerand a pillow (Sowa, "Kopfkissen"). Rynečka and rynkica are the Polish rynka, a small pan, with diminutive endings; pekava, "I'll bake", is from pek-, to roast or bake (Smart and Crofton, Pek). Rył is a fart (Smart and Crofton, Ril, "pedere"; Sowa, "Furz"); its verb łemaghias is elsewhere in this book to strike or hit, given here as "went off". Penknisail'as, "has cracked", is from the Polish pęknąć. Thuli, "greasy", is thulo, "fat, thick" (Sowa); čarel is to lick (Miklosich, čar, "lecken"). Čiang is the leg (Miklosich, čang); minč is the woman's private parts (Sowa, "weibliche Scham"; Smart and Crofton, Mindj, "pudendum muliebre"), given as "privates". So paki phenav, which this narrator says before an indelicate word, is given as "saving your presence" (compare Sowa, patib, "Ehre, Hochachtung", honour). Parne, literally "white ones", are silver coins, and the English says "silver pieces"; neve, literally "new ones", is read from context as small coins, perhaps the "new" kreuzers of Austrian Galicia, and the English says "pennies". Read from context: pračhilas, "he stopped", from the same verb used of the magic ram that stops in the tale before this one; masovar, "a second time", between jekvar, once, and tritovar, the third time; somakos, "a little"; balos, "a feast", the Polish bal, as the book's other tales use it for a lord's great feast; vaghios, "bed"; and dojdzînav, "contrive", from the Polish dojść. The rhetorical questions Kas joj na dîkheł?, "whom does she not see?", and Kaj joj n'avil'a?, "where did she not come to?", are given without their negatives, as "whom does she see?" and "where did she go?". Tyž, the Polish też, "also, then", is given once as "so" and otherwise left as a particle the English does not need.

No English translation of this tale is known to us.

© 2026 Tianmu Anglican Church. This English translation is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0: you may share and adapt it for non-commercial use with credit to the Good Works Library, tianmu.org. The source text keeps its own terms. For other uses, see Rights and Reuse.

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Source Text: Pał e dylini terni romni

Polish Romani text as printed by Kopernicki (1930), pp. 217–222, in his orthography; line-end hyphens are joined, and his footnote markers, whose notes stand with his Latin translation, are left out. Kopernicki prints the tale as one paragraph; it is divided here at the same places as the English.

Ehin jek gadžio, kaj łes nane romni, čia łes esas šukar čaj paš łeste. Ano, jekvar łake o-dad phenghias: „Dža čia, mri čaj, andro pani, mor-avri o-gada“. Ale oja čaj sas somakos dylini. Gel'a joj te-moreł o gada. Kas joj na dîkheł? Džan duj urde pre ezekucïa. Avka oda piršo urdo dîkhl'a oła rakla, pheneł jov ki' aver urdo: „Te doresav ajsa šukara rakla, kaj ła oč jekvar te bonghiarav, ta šeł rovla pre bhuł vytryminavas“.

Oja raklori šunghias, avil'a joj khere. O-dad łatar phučieł: „Kurghiał-avri o-renti?“—„Kurghiom, mro dad, ale mro dadoro, dîkhl'om adaj vareso: džanas duj sługaghia the vakernas kia pende: oj te doresav ajsa šukara rakla, kaj ła oč jekvar te bonghiarav, ta šeł kašta pre bhuł łavas“. Ale joj, oja čaj: „Mro dadoro, bonghiar man, mro dad, tu“. Ale o-dad na kameł, po čaj. Ale e-čaj pa' łeste phireł.

O-dad imar andre choli pel'a, il'a rovli, marghia igen ła ča. Akana łatar phučieł: „Čy tud łačies avri-bonghiarghiom?“ U joj łeske odphenghia: „Igen mištes!“ Ano, ehin joj paš o-dad panč berš. Gel'a joj pał romeste. Ale o-rom ajso sas dylino sar the romni.

Ano, sar imar il'a łeja soveł, minînghia može imar štar ghives, pre pančto rat' pheneł pèskera romniake: „Pašluv, bonghiarava tud!“ U joj łeske odpheneł: „Man jekvar mro dad avri-bonghiarghia, ta man buter niko na bonghiarła“. Jov akana pheneł korkoro kia peste: „Pèskera ča avri-bonghiarghias, the jov ła pał mande dynias“. Ano to-sarła ušt'il'as oda dylino gadžio, gel'a ki' o-čibało. Phenghia łe-čibałeske: „Oj oda gadžio pèskera ča bonghiarłas, the pał mand' avri-dynias“.

Ano, o-čibało łes vičinghia andre karčma, ołe gadžies, kaj łèskeri čaj esas, phučien ołe gadžiestar: „So tu kerghiał tra čaha?“ Ale o gadžio goghiaver esas, phenghia łenge sar sas: „Joj mange phenghias, kaj ła me te-bonghiarav; me tyž cholisail'om, il'om kašt, th' igen ła marghiom, the phučl'om łatar, čy ła mište avri-bonghiarghiom. U joj phenghia: mište! Dyniom ła pał o-rom. Ale o-rom ajso dylino sar the joj“. — „Ano, džan tumenge akana khere, mredevłeja“, o-čibało phenghia.

Ano, oda łèskero džamutro avil'a kia pèskero dad, kaj pèskera ča pa' łeste avridynia: „Mro dadoro, phen mange, sar me te-dojdzînav, kaj me ła oč jekvar te-bonghiarav?“ — »No, šun: dž' andre foros, cin tuke trin bokhela po duj neve, the thov tuke teł o-šerand, the rakhi ušt'i the cha tuke. Joj tutar phučieła, so tu chas? U tu łake phen: „oj chav bokhela“; u sar tutar mangeła, kaj ła te-des, de ła jekvar. Sar tutar masovar mangeła, de ła. U sar tutar tritovar mangeła, ta łake phen akavka: „Tud ehin rynečka; an, ta me pekava, ta tud dava“«.

Mište, jov gel'a andro foros, cinghia peske trin bokhela po duj neve, avil'a jov khere, thoghia peske teł o-šerand, pašlil'a kie rat'ate pro vaghios, the joj łeja pašlil'a. Il'a peske oła bokhela rakhi the chał. Joj łestar phučieł: „So tu chas?“ Jov łake phenghia: „Oj me chav bokheli“. Joj łestar mangeł, kaj ła te-deł. Jov ła dynia. Joj łeske phenghia: „Igen łači!“ Mangeł łestar masovar, dynia ła.

Tritovar łes mangeł, kaj ła te-deł, u jov łake phenghias: „Šun: imar man nane, ale ehin tud rynečka; an, ta me pekava, ta me tud dava“. Joj łeske phenghia: „Ano, ta pek!“ Gel'a pre łate the bonghiareł peske, pro-ostatkos, so paki phenav, jaž rył łemaghias. Joj łestar phučieł: „So tu kerghiał?“ -- „E-rynkica penknisail'as“.

To-sarła ušt'il'as oja gadži th'oda gadžio. Dynia łate o-gadžio trin parne, kaj te-džał andro foros, kaj te-cineł vareso. Joj pes avrikidl'a the gel'a. Kaj joj avil'a? Kia pèskero dad. O dad łatar phučieł: „Kaj tu džas?“ — „Avl'om kia tumende, mro dad, phenava tumenge vareso“.

— „U so mange pheneja?“ „Sas amen adaj rakhi balos, pekełas mro rom bokhela, the cało rath' pekahas the chahas“. O-dad łatar phučieł: „Soske mange, mri čaj, n'anghiał?“ — „Mro dadoro, nane imar nič, čiajci meg e-rynkica thuli; mi-aveł mro dad, mi-čareł-avri“. Ano, o-dad łake na phenghia nič, po dylini sas.

Kaj joj n'avil'a oja gadži? Kie jek kovačis. U na sas khere, čiajci słužonco. Avil'a joj andre kuźnia; phučieł łatar łačies oda słužonco: „Soske tu adaj avil'ał?“ Ale dîkhl'a, kaj e šukar gadži. Pheneł oja gadži: „Avil'om tyž raja, kaj-tyž mange o-raj o-rynkica te-kereł“. Oda kovačis łatar phučieł: „Sîkav!“ Hazl'a upre e-čiang, the sîkaghia łeske e-minč.

Phučieł łatar: „Ehin tud, gadžie, łove?“ — „Ehin!“ — „Keci?“ — „Trin parne!“ Ano, dynia łeske oła trin parne, vičinghia ła andre kuźnia, phenghia łake te-pašlał, gel'a pre łate the kereł oja rynkica, jaž imar pračhilas. Akana łake pheneł: „Akana imar tuke niko na musarła rynkica“.

Avil'a joj khere kia pèskero rom. Phučieł łatar o rom: „So cinghiał andro foros?“ -- „So me cinghiomas? Musarghiał mange rynkica, me gel'om kio kovačis, dyniom łes trin parne, the kerghia mange ła“. Il'a o rom kašt, oła romnia marghias. E-gadži il'a pes, denašd'as, n' avil'a khere jaž kie rat'ate. Džid'on, ale na džanav, sar.

Source Colophon

Izydor Kopernicki, Textes tsiganes: contes et poésies avec traduction française (Kraków: Polska Akademja Umiejętności, 1930), fascicle 2, pp. 217–222, tale 25. Public domain. Transcribed from the page images of the New York University copy, digitized by Google (Google Books drESAAAAIAAJ); Kopernicki's translation, printed below each page's Romani (for this tale in Latin), is not reproduced. Kopernicki's letters are kept as printed, including ł, č, š, ž, ź, the apostrophe in l'a, d'a and rat', and è and î; the i with a small hook in place of its dot, in ezekucïa, is given as ï.

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