Oh you made me laugh, Mark, with that 'by odd coincidence' you're "I just
happen to 'have," I should have known! And, yes, I heard this as a kid too
though not ever in its entirety, the refrain alone was insanely popular on
playgrounds, and so missed the Greek and Turkish confusion. Thanks for the
laugh,
best,
Rebeca
---- Original message ----
>Date: Mon, 17 Jan 2005 01:45:24 -0500
>From: Mark Weiss <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: Mark, two translations/same Cavafy poem
>To: [log in to unmask]
>
>Very much my experience. A bit like being a method actor.
>
>By odd coincidence, I have a copy of the original sheet music for "Yes, We
>Have No Bananas," It was still current in my childhood. Teh artwork on the
>sheet music reflects a lot of ethnic confusion. The song's main character
>is identified as Greek, but the guy pictured is in archaic Turkish costume.
>Here are the lyrics.
>
>
>Folk Song written By: Frank Silver and Irving Cohn (1923)
>
>There's a fruit store on our street
>It's run by a Greek.
>And he keeps good things to eat
>But you should hear him speak!
>
>When you ask him anything, he never answers "no".
>He just "yes"es you to death,
>And as he takes your dough, he tells you...
>
>"Yes! We have no bananas
>We have no bananas today!!
>We have string beans and onions, cabBAges and scallions
>And all kinds of fruit and say
>We have an old fashioned toMAHto
>A Long Island poTAHto, but
>
>Yes! We have no bananas
>We have no bananas today!"
>
>Business got so good for him that he wrote home today,
>"Send me Pete and Nick and Jim; I need help right away."
>When he got them in the store, there was fun, you bet.
>Someone asked for "sparrow grass"
>and then the whole quartet
>All answered:
>
>"Yes, we have no bananas
>We have-a no bananas today.
>Just try those coconuts
>Those wall-nuts and doughnuts
>There ain't many nuts like they.
>We'll sell you two kinds of red herring,
>Dark brown, and ball-bearing.
>But yes, we have no bananas
>We have no bananas today."
>
>
>At 01:13 AM 1/17/2005, you wrote:
>>Hi Alison,
>>
>>No, no offence, that 'never' 'never' was just goofing.
>>
>>But in thinking about this later, I think the difference between reader's
>>head and
>>translator's head is the plasticity of the text. In other words, in
>>reading, the text
>>is given; however much suspension or circumvention of expectation there
may
>>be, and I don't significantly disagree with your description of the
>>activity of
>>reading, the text is there. As a reader, I anyway give myself to it. But in
>>'translator's head' the text itself has alternatives, the very present
>>alternatives of
>>the other translations also there, and the body of the original which may
>>or may
>>not be known or known in partial degrees, and which may exist no more
than as
>>a shimmering phantom which arises from the gaps between various given
texts.
>>So the activity in "translator's head" is akin to being reader and writer
>>simultaneously but without being settled in either, the text has a sort of
>>plasticity. I don't know, but for me, it was most instructive to have to
>>translate
>>for hire works that I ordinarily might not have. In other words, generally
>>as a
>>poet who translates, I've translated works that I've been drawn to, caught
>>in the
>>forcefield of, wanted to spend a lot of time with. But it's much different
>>to be
>>given a text and asked to translate it, particularly if the work might not be
>>congenial or might not attract one's own sensibilities and so there's a much
>>greater sense of becoming a void. You asked how one communicates with a
>>void, but I'd guess the real answer is that the communication is the resulting
>>translation. Not sure if that makes any sense. And on the other hand, I
>>have the
>>temptation to start singing (fortunately the web is inaudible for the most
>>part)
>>that song, probably about 68, and surely given the knowledge existant
among
>>listmembers someone will know whoever sang it, "yes, we have no bananas,"
>>
>>best,
>>
>>Rebecca
>>
>>
>>Hi Rebecca
>>
>>Cool bananas. No offence taken, and none meant.
>>
>>Best
>>
>>A
>>
>>
>>Alison Croggon
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