Arany János - Győrei Zsolt (szerk.): The trill of the nightingale (Budapest, 2019)
V - „'Tis enough if it shines for me” - The Old Man and his Tambura (Thomas Cooper)
The Old Man and his Tambura The old man has a tambura, when whimsy, boredom happen round, he takes the instrument in hand and fills his hovel with its sound. No audience respectful sits To hear old chords gone out of style. Half blind, half deaf, alone he plays But to amuse himself awhile. The songs the century has sung, The pelf of poets of today, He’s never heard a note of them, Nor cares, he plucks a different lay. Old songs, with chords first stern then soft, First German, Magyar, quick, then slow, The roadside brigand’s mournful sob, By gallows under cawing crow. A cry, raw fear, and then the strings Drop to a lull, a gentle sway, A soft, meandering lament. One rarely hears such skill today. And then a simple song flows sweet, A masterpiece born of his strings, A dance which cradles as it rocks, Like breezes rock the boughs in spring. At times a tune gives solace too, A song from Martin Luther’s day, Of heart repentant, sins confessed, Or heart lifted to God by faith. But not that he can strum these tales In all their shades from wearied frets, He faults the strings, the strings fault him, They carry on with their duets. 72 73
