Gypsy song | I walked all over the village

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from Volkslieder (Folksongs)

Translation © by Vera Kerekes

Cigány nóta

Language: Hungarian (Magyar)

Our translations: ENG

Egész falut összejártam,
Mégis semmit sem kaphattam, jaj, jaj,
Pedig mennyit csaltam, kértem,
Mégis üresen megtértem, jaj, jaj!
Eddig az üstfoldozásból,
És más apró kopácslásból, jaj, jaj!
Tőt, s mazedagot árultunk,
Rostát, ecsetet csináltunk, jaj, jaj!
De már nincsen reménységünk,
Majd malotára szorulunk, jaj, jaj-jaj, jaj-jaj, jaj!
Pedig attól úgy irtózunk,
Mint a purdé a puskától, jaj, jaj-jaj, jaj-jaj, jaj!
Verd meg Isten rossz helségit,
Dögöltesd meg a sertésit, jaj, jaj-jaj, jaj-jaj, jaj!
Abból egy kis siltet kapunk,
Egy lábig el nem pusztulunk, jaj, jaj-jaj, jaj-jaj, jaj,
jaj-jaj, jaj-jaj, jaj-jaj, jaj!

Text Authorship:

from Volkslieder (Folksongs) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Zoltán Kodály (1882 - 1967), "Cigány nóta", from Magyar Népzene IV = Hungarian Folk Music IV, no. 8 [sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (Vera Kerekes) , "Gypsy song", copyright © 2026, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2010-11-11
Line count: 17
Word count: 91

Gypsy song

Language: English after the Hungarian (Magyar)

I walked all over the village,
Still I could not get anything, ouch, ouch
No matter how much I cheated, begged,
I returned with nothing, ouch, ouch!
Until now from pot repair,
And from other small hammering, ouch, ouch,
We were selling roots and herbs,
We made sieves and brushes, ouch, ouch
We no longer have any hope,
We’ll be forced to take charity. ouch, ouch-ouch, ouch-ouch, ouch!
Even though we are dreading it,
Like a gipsy child a gun, ouch, ouch-ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch!
Curse God such bad places,
Make their pigs die, ouch, ouch-ouch, ouch-ouch, ouch!
From that we get some pig’s foot,
For one foot we do not get destroyed, ouch, ouch-ouch, ouch-ouch, ouch, ouch-ouch,
ouch-ouch, ouch-ouch, ouch!

Translator's note for line 7: The dialectal word "mazedagot" does not appear in standard dictionaries. Based on the context of itinerant peddlers' wares, it likely refers to some type of root, herb, or inexpensive trade good sold alongside sieves and brushes.

Text Authorship:

Translation from Hungarian (Magyar) to English copyright © 2026 by Vera Kerekes, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

a text in Hungarian (Magyar) from Volkslieder (Folksongs)
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website: 2026-01-15
Line count: 17
Word count: 121