VALSA, MATILDA

VALSA, MATILDA
översatt av Sandra Dermark
från engelskan (australiensisk folkvisa)
den 19 november 2016

En frejdig knalle slog läger vid en liten sjö,
i skuggan av tre höstgula björkträd,
och han väntade på att fikat skulle koka och sjöng:
"kom nu och valsa, Matilda, med mig!"

Valsa, Matilda! Valsa, Matilda,
kom nu och valsa, Matilda, med mig!
och han väntade på att fikat skulle koka och sjöng:
"kom nu och valsa, Matilda, med mig!"

Ner kom en tacka att dricka i den lilla sjön,
upp hoppa' knallen och tog den med sig,
och han sjöng när han stoppa' tackan uti ränseln sin:
"kom nu och valsa, Matilda, med mig!"

Valsa, Matilda! Valsa, Matilda,
kom nu och valsa, Matilda, med mig!
och han sjöng när han stoppa' tackan uti ränseln sin:
"kom nu och valsa, Matilda, med mig!"

Upp kom patronen, ridande på fullblodshäst,
ner kom tre knektar, ett tu tre!
"Vems är den där tackan som ni uti er ränsel har?
Kom nu och valsa, Matilda, med mig!"

Valsa, Matilda! Valsa, Matilda,
kom nu och valsa, Matilda, med mig!
"Vems är den där tackan som ni uti er ränsel har?
Kom nu och valsa, Matilda, med mig!"

Upp hoppa' knallen, han hoppa' i den lilla sjön:
"Vid liv till fånga tar ni aldrig mig!"
Och det hörs att han går igen vid den lilla sjön:
"kom nu och valsa, Matilda, med mig!"

Valsa, Matilda! Valsa, Matilda,
kom nu och valsa, Matilda, med mig!
Och det hörs att han går igen vid den lilla sjön:
"kom nu och valsa, Matilda, med mig!"



Waltzing Matilda in Swedish; that's a bunny I came up with not long ago. Changing eucalyptus for birch and tea for coffee, and setting the story in the woods of my Scandinavia instead of the Aussie outback, meant I had to adapt the setting.
"Knalle" is the Western Swedish word for peddler. Before the advent of consumerism, this figure was a staple of rural Sweden with its many isolated farms and hamlets. To the Svenssons (average Swedes) of those days, the peddler was one of their few contacts with the outside world, a subject of both mistrust and wonder. All the "knallar" in the region understood one another and even had their own professional jargon, words of which have seeped into standard Swedish. Nowadays there's even a mall called Knalleland (Peddlerland), even though it's a post-industrial shopping centre.
One of these peddler's jargon's words which have made their way into everyday Swedish, and which you will certainly hear in Sweden every day is "fika", literally "feeco" ("coffee" in verlan), which has the same connotations as the British "cuppa" (the quintessential cup of a hot drink, especially during a pause/in the afternoon or evening).
Other knalle words that have become commonplace in standard Swedish are "stålar" (literally "steels,") which refers to money informally (like "bread" in English); "tjacka", "to buy something" in the same informal context, and "lattjo lajban" (a now devaluated informal expression of excitement, like "radical" and "groovy" in English).

WALTZING MATILDA

WALTZING MATILDA
is the unofficial national anthem of Australia, a story of passion, freedom, and suicide:

Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong
under the shade of a coolibah tree,
and he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled:
"Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me?"

Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled:
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."

Down came a jumbuck to drink at that billabong.
Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee.
And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag:
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."

Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me.
And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag:
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."

Up rode the squatter, mounted on his thoroughbred.
Down came the troopers, one, two, three.
"Where's that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."

Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me"
Where's that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."

Up jumped the swagman and sprang into the billabong.
"You'll never catch me alive!" said he.
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong:
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."

Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong:
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."

EXPLANATIONS:

• swagman: a drifter, an itinerant worker
• billabong: a lake in the Australian outback
• coolibah: a kind of eucalyptus, specifically a wetland eucalyptus
• billy: kettle (both the kettle itself and the tea-water)
• jumbuck: a young ram (male sheep)
• tucker bag: a knapsack
• squatter: a wealthy landowner, one who owns Crown lands to be more precise
• Matilda: the name the drifter gives his sleeping bag: he's grown so close to it that he's given it a girl's name, much like some owners name their vehicles or weapons
• Waltzing Matilda: wandering about the outback with the sleeping bag on one's back (from German "auf der Walz" for travelling on foot and the name "Matilda").

"Waltzing Matilda" in European English - the lyrics explained for us across the globe:

Once a merry drifter camped by a little lake
under the shade of a eucalyptus tree,
and he sang as he watched and waited till his kettle boiled:
"Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me?"

Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me
And he sang as he watched and waited till his kettle boiled:
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."

Down came a young ram to drink at that little lake.
Up jumped the drifter and grabbed him with glee.
And he sang as he shoved that young ram into his knapsack:
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."

Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me
And he sang as he shoved that young ram into his knapsack:
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."

Up rode the master, mounted on his thoroughbred.
Down came the troopers, one, two, three.
"Where's that jolly young ram you've got inside your knapsack?
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."

Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me
"Where's that jolly young ram you've got inside your knapsack?
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."

Up jumped the drifter and sprang into the little lake.
"You'll never catch me alive!" said he.
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that little lake:
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."

Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that little lake:
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."