I woke up Tuesday
before all my neighbors
before all my friends
I woke up
washed myself
set out for the church
through blossoming apple trees
through newly planted pear trees.
Hostile women
and hostile men
and envious men
and sorcerers
and shouters ¹
all booed me.
Nobody saw me
only a great eagle
berry-black eagle ²
slate-gray eagle ³
who moves through the sky
under the sky
by the handles of the seas. ⁴
It reached me from behind
and spoke to me from behind:
— Charm-sayer Anitza
I know the fapt ⁵
the givings
the shoutings
the wishings
and the greatest hate.
— Well then, great eagle
berry-black eagle
slate-gray eagle
you, who move through the sky
under the sky
by the handles of the seas
since you know all the givings
and the fapt
I pray to you
if this is a fapt with dog shit
a fapt with wolf shit
a fapt with bear shit
a fapt with people shit
a fapt with cat shit
a fapt with cat hairs
a fapt with pig hairs
a fapt with dust from the grave
a fapt with garlic left three days in a dog's ass
a fapt with a wolf's neck
a fapt with water from a dark place
a fapt with a dried frog
a fapt with a new pot
a fapt with a crystal glass
a fapt with a rotten egg
a fapt with ashes thrown away from the lye wash-tub
a fapt with soot
a fapt with dirt taken from footsteps
a fapt with dog diggings
a fapt with cat soarti ⁶
a fapt with hen scratchings
a fapt from a father
a fapt from a mother
a fapt from brothers
a fapt from sisters
a fapt from a brother-in-law
a fapt from neighbors
a fapt from friends
a fapt from Gypsy women
a fapt from Armenian women
a fapt from Jewish women
a fapt from another village
mixed with spit.
You, berry-black eagle
slate-gray eagle
you who move through the sky
under the sky
pinch it with your beak
scratch it with your claws
gather it with your wings
load up the fapt well
on your lashes
on your eyebrows
on your feathers
and carry it from village to village
till you find the culprit.
Great eagle
berry-black eagle
slate-gray eagle
you, who move through the sky
under the sky
by the handles of the seas
come back again
to Anitza the charm-sayer.
She'll blow the bugle for you
and wait for you with tables laid
with torches lit
and feed you bread
(at this moment you give her/him bread)
and sweeten you with honey
and honor you with wine
and speak to you with words of honor.
And you, great eagle
berry-black eagle
slate-gray eagle
you who move through the sky
under the sky
by the handles of the seas
come back again
to N.
Take the fapt
the givings
the shoutings
the wishings
the booings
the mockings
the sendings
and the castings.
Take them off him
off his head
off his eyes
off his eyebrows
off his mouth
off his speech
off his hands
off his body
off his legs
off his house
off his yard
off his chickens.
You, great eagle
berry-black eagle
slate-gray eagle
you, who move through the sky
under the sky
by the handles of the seas
maybe you went
and didn't find
what you looked for
didn't get it
then go to the grave
maybe the one there did it
the one in the grave.
You, scratch in the dust
under the dust
look for a new grave
a live grave ⁷
and scratch there
in the dust
under the dust
till you reach bones
and skin.
Great eagle
berry-black eagle
slate-gray eagle
you, who move through the sky
under the sky
by the handles of the seas
maybe these people suffer neither from fapt
nor from givings
but it's God who gave them this
so they would suffer greatly.
Even so, take away the givings
the fapt
the shoutings
the wishings
the booings
the mockings
the sendings
and the castings
and carry them from village to village
till you reach a withered pear tree.
Shake yourself there
heal yourself
so that there's nothing left
and no one can harm them any more.
Let them remain
like blossoming apple trees
like new-planted pear trees.