Weddings

kha-dana yala kha-brata ki-bayyiva uydale khazziva uydale. men-kamta baba yemma gari masalan taniva bnatet pellen-kas spayina, masalan bnatet Geoffrey raba spayina, Geoffrey raba spay-nashele, bakhtu spayela. u-bratet danne mayyakhla ka-brunan. anne baba yemma ki-tanivale ka-brune, bruneda khazziva brata k-azelva khazzivala. k-aziva talbivala.

A boy and a girl would fall in love with one another and see one another. Beforehand, however, the father and mother would say, for example, ‘The daughters of so-and-so are good,’ for example ‘the daughters of Geoffrey are very good, Geoffrey is a very fine man. His wife is good.’ So we would bring their daughter for our son. The father and mother would tell this to their son and their son would see the girl, would go to see the girl. They would go and ask for her hand.

talabuyta k-aziva baba yemma. yala ka-brata ki-taniva babi yemmi b-shadrennun talabuyta ati talbilakh men-babakh yemmakh. en-yavvilakh, ana b-gorennakh. berrekhshena talabuyta. berrekhshena gu-kha-beta varena: shlama b-shena! dakhitun? pakdun tumun! pakdun tumun!

The father and mother would go to make the marriage request. The boy would say to the girl ‘I shall send my father and mother to make a marriage request, to come and ask for your hand from your father and mother. If they (agree to) give you away, I shall marry you.’ They go to make the marriage request. They go and enter a house: ‘Hello! Greetings! How are you? Please sit down! Please sit down!’

betyavena. mayena chay. mu b-shatitun? mara le-shatakh hech-mendi, le-akhlakh hech-mendi hal bautan katokhun la tanakhla. bautokhun muila? akhnan tiyyevakh, brunan virel men-kam tarrokhun khezyel kha-varda. o-varda gu-bakhchokhunle. byayevakh gabakhle lablakhle gu-bakhch-ganan.

They sit down. They bring tea. ‘What will you drink?’ They say ‘We shall not drink anything and we shall not eat anything until we tell you our request.’ ‘What is your request?’ ‘We have come (because) our son has entered your door and seen a flower. That flower is in your garden. We want to pick it and bring it to our garden.’

ita anne di vayena razi. mara khob akhnan etlan nashe gari karakhlun. u-baba u-yemma amta khalu kulle anne bekrayena tama gu-beta kat-menne bakri. bitayena bakurena men-baba, baba sapuyol b-yemma. mara yemma gurvestola gari ana bakren men-yemmo sabab yemmo gurvestola. yemmo mara ana razivan ana t-odanna kha dastet varde mattanna al-sadret yala.

Then they eventually agree. They say ‘Good, we have relatives, whom we have to summon (to consult).’ They summon the father, mother, paternal aunt, maternal uncle, everybody, there to the house in order to consult them. They come and they ask the father. The father defers to the mother. He says ‘The mother has brought her up. I must ask her mother, because her mother has brought her up.’ Her mother says ‘I agree. I shall make her a bunch of flowers which I shall put on the chest of the boy.’

ina anida beddayena yala manile. beddayena yala manile beddayena brun-manile bekhdayena kat-brate yavvila. kharta bakurena men-amtet yala, mara a-amtola, etla hakuta kat-ayda yatta. amto yavola ka-goro, ka-mamuno, ka-akhuno, ka-khaluvvo. kulle dasta atkha vayena tive. e-dan talabuyta vayela, kulle bekrayena nashe. khabra yavena kate ita anne men-kulle bakurena, kulle razi vayena. chappe mkhayena kat-talabuyta vila.

But they know who the boy is. They know whose son he is. They are pleased to give their daughter (to him). Then they ask the paternal aunt of the boy and she says ‘This is her aunt, she has a right to know also.’ Her paternal aunt gives the floor to her husband, to her aunt, to her brother, to her maternal uncle. The whole group is thus sitting down. When the betrothal takes place, they invite everybody. They give them the news, then they ask everybody and they all agree. They applaud since the betrothal has taken place.

bar-kha-dana berrekhshena shirennekh, shirennekh, brata vadela shirennekh, shirennekh et-bratela. vadena shirennekh, mikhulta, lakhma, chay, shteta, kulle yavela. brata bekrayela nashe ka-shirennekh gu-beto. bikhalena, beshtayena, berkadena, beshvarena.

After a while they go to a betrothal party, betrothal party, the girl holds a betrothal party, the betrothal party is (the responsibility) of the girl. They hold a betrothal party, food, bread, tea, drink, they serve everything. The girl invites people to the betrothal party to her house. They eat, they drink, they dance, they jig.

shirennekhda prakela, mattuyena danet khluyla, khluyla vayele et-yala. kha-kma dane betlabena mennu khluyla gura aved, kha-kma mennu betlabena khluyla sura aved. betlabena gura, khluyla gura, khluyla gura yane nashe raba chedi. khluyla sura yane masalan kha tlay arpi ganay chedi, atkha.

The betrothal party finishes and they fix the time of the wedding—the wedding is (the responsibility) of the boy. Sometimes they request him to make a big wedding. Sometimes they request him to make a small wedding. If they request a big one, a big wedding, a big wedding means that they invite many people. A small wedding means that they invite, for example, thirty or forty people or so.

bitayela dan-khluyla. gu-matvate kenyane pramena. kenyane iman parmi morisha jalde davla zurna ki-makhila garavate kat-nashe shammi, kemi. ka-davva ki-tani sar-subay, sar-subay mkhayele davla al-garavate kulle mata bekyamela.

The time of the wedding arrives. In the villages they slaughter cattle. When they slaughter cattle early in the morning, they play drum and pipe music on the roofs so that people hear and get up. They call this (music) sar-+subay, sar-+subay, they play the drum on the roofs and the whole village gets up.

labulena kenyana kat-parmile. alma kulle bejmayele, dvikena ida ida kenyana pramuna, sharuyena berkada beshvara. kenyana bashuluna. kharta bechyadena nashe, kulle bitayena ka-khluyla, men-matvate kurba. en-gu-matele, men-matvate kurba kulle nashe beddayena kha ka-do-khina, bitayena khluyla. kenyana, kha-gura kenyana pramena bashulena rezza, turshiyye, khamra, arak, kulle mattuyena bikhala, beshta, berkada. beshvara, shavva yumane, shavva lelavate vayena khluyla vadena, davla zurna, shavva yumane shavva lelavate k-odiva khluyla ka-yale.

They take cattle to slaughter. All the people gather. They slaughter the cattle and holding hands they begin to dance and jig. They cook the cattle. Then they invite people and they all come to the wedding from the villages nearby. If it is in a village, everybody knows each other and they come to the wedding from the villages nearby. They slaughter a large head of cattle, they cook rice, they serve pickles, wine, arak, everything and they eat, drink, dance, jig. They hold the wedding for seven days and seven nights, with drum and pipe, seven days and seven nights they would hold the wedding for their son.

ita nashe bitayena tama u-sabakhta yavena. sabakhte zuyzeva yane emma tuymane, tuymaneva yan tremma tuymane. leva dinar. dinar l-a-ybele. tuymane ka-Iran. tremma tuymane, emma tuymane, tlamma tuymane ki-yavviva sabakhta ka-yala, ka-hayyartu.

Then people come there and give wedding gifts. Their wedding gift was money, that is a hundred tumans—there were tumans—or two hundred tumans. There were not dinars. The dinar was used elsewhere, the tuman (was the currency) for Iran. They gave a wedding gift of two hundred tumans, one hundred tumans, three hundred tumans to the boy, to help him.

khob anne nashe khina kut-kha k-aziva. avvada k-azelva gu-bet-babu gu-bet-yemmu kat paletva shariva pelkhana gu-karmane gu-mulkane. ina men-babu yemmu ki-khayyiva. kalu gari oyava tabba al- babu yemmu.

Well, everybody then goes away. He also goes (to live) in the house of his father, the house of his mother, while beginning to go out to work in the vineyards and estates, but he lived with his father and mother. The bride had to obey his father and mother.