1 The vast, infinite life. From part 1, section 8 of ‘Quatrains’ by Turkish poet Nâzim Hikmet, translated by Ruth Christie and Richard McKane (Beyond the Walls, Anvil Press, 2002).
2 Tungjatë, bre burrë. ‘Well, man, how are you?’ (A greeting typically heard in northern Albania.)
3 Goodbye, my brother sea. From another poem by Nâzim Hikmet. A talisman text for Hana, lines from it recur in several places in Sworn Virgin.
Goodbye my Brother Sea
So we go as we came,
goodbye, my brother sea.
We took a few of your pebbles,
a little of your deep blue salt,
a little of your infinity,
a tiny bit of your light
and of your sorrow.
You told us many tales
of seafaring fate.
We have a little more hope
a little more courage.
So we go as we came,
goodbye, my brother sea.
(Translated by Ruth Christie, 2013)
4 mixing Albanian Gheg with American English. Gheg is the dialect spoken in northern Albania.
5 the kulla that was slowly going to ruin. A typical stone-walled ‘tower’ house of the Albanian north, a kulla (pluraclass="underline" kullë) is a family home that also functioned as a stronghold, with narrow windows and thick walls.
6 ku ku moj nanë. A Gheg dialect exclamation expressing surprise, shame, perhaps a certain disapproval. Somewhat similar to ‘what is the world coming to?’
7 a Marubi portrait. Pietro Marubi was an Italian painter and early photographer who supported Garibaldi and emigrated to Albania in 1850. Some of his portraits of Albanians were published in the London Illustrated News.
8 It’s not a heart. From another poem by Nâzim Hikmet:
Steamboat
It’s not a heart, I say, it’s a sandal of buffalo leather,
it tramps and tramps
it never falls apart
but treads the stony paths.
A steamboat passes in front of Varna,
‘follow it, silver strings of the Black Sea,’
a boat on its way to the Bosphorus.
Nâzim caresses the boat very gently,
and burns his hands …
(Translation by Ruth Christie, 2013)
9 The shilte are in a mess on the floor. Shilte are traditional mattresses or wide cushions for sitting or lying on.
10 Don’t you city people call us malokë? A derogatory epithet suggesting mountain provincialism, roughly translatable as ‘yokels.’ Among the mountain folk themselves it can also be used as a term of endearment.
11 the rule of the Kanun. A set of traditional, orally transmitted Albanian laws, which were codified in the 15th century but only written and published in the 20th century. The Kanun remains a point of reference in the mountainous areas of north Albania.
12 Everyone is alone at the heart of the earth. From a poem by Italian poet Salvatore Quasimodo.
Suddenly It’s Evening
Everyone is alone at the heart of the earth
pierced by a ray of sunlight:
and suddenly it’s evening.
(Translation by Charles Guenther, in The Sea and the Honeycomb, Beacon Press, 1971)
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