by Endre Farkas
He stared ahead and waited for something. He wasn’t sure what. Then it came to him.
I am my mother’s child. I am my father’s son. I am…
“We are over Newfoundland and will be landing in Montreal in about three hours the captain announced.
Tamás looked out the window. What a big country, he mused. My country. My home. I know nothing of it. I’d like to see it all. Maybe one day he and Marianne would drive across it from sea to sea, to see what they could see. He closed his eyes. He was in freefall. He smiled.
Glossary
Sp.=Spanish
R.=Romani
Fr.=French
I.=Italian
Rs.=Russian
G.=Greek
He.=Hebrew
H.=Hungarian
Y.=Yiddish
Adio: G. Goodbye.
Ándale: Sp. Hurry up.
Athingani: R. The name came to be associated with the Romani people.
Attila Josef: Hungarian poet.
Budapest Honvéd: Hungarian soccer team.
Calvert: Fr. Variation on “Calvary.” A Québécois curse.
Cante jondos.: Sp. The deepest, most serious forms of flamenco music.
Cazzo: I. (curse) dick.
Chicas hermosas: Sp. Beautiful girls.:
Ciboire: Fr. The ciborium cup. A Québécois curse.
Cimbalom: H. A large Hungarian dulcimer.
Csárdás: Hungarian folk dance.
Da: Rs. Yes.
Dobos: H. Hungarian cake.
Efcharisto: G. Thank you.
Fillér: H. Small coins (10 fillér=1 forint).
Forint: H. Small coins.
Gnocchi: I. A potato-based dumpling.
Goyim: Y. Derogatory term for non-Jewish males.
Grosics: Hungarian goalie considered the best in his time.
Habs: Fr. Abbreviation for “habitants” nickname for Montreal Canadiens hockey club.
Hajrá Magyar: H. A cheer. “Go Hungarians.”
Hostie: Fr. The host taken at communion. A Québécois curse.
Hui: Rs. Curse meaning “dick.”
Kala: G. Fine. Response to greeting.
La Chaim: Y. A toast to life.
Matzo: He. Passover flat bread.
Mauthausen: A concentration camp.
Mazel tov: Y. Congratulations
Meg öllek: H. Kill him.
Meshuganah: Y. Crazy.
Mishto avilian amende: R. Welcome among us.
Nyet: Rs. No.
Öld meg öket: H: Kill them.
Pálinka: H. Brandy.
Payos: He. Sidelocks worn by Jewish Orthodox males.
Petõfi, Sándor: Hungarian poet.
Pogácsa: H. scone.
Puskás: Hungarian soccer player.
Puta: Sp. Whore.
Putri: R. Hovel, Gypsy camp.
Sara-la-Kali: R. Patron saint of Romani people.
Seder: He. Passover ritual.
Shalom Aleichem: He. Greeting.
Shiksa: Y. Derogatory term for non-Jewish female.
Shmata: Y. Rags—used as a term for clothing factory.
Spiel: Y. A story, typically one intended as a means of persuasion.
Szerbusz: H. Familiar greeting both as hello and goodbye.
Tabernak: F. Tabernacle. A Québécois curse.
Tallit: He. A fringed garment, traditionally worn as a prayer shawl by religious Jews.
Taves baxtalo ando amaro: R. Welcome to our country.
Tefillin: He. A set of small black leather boxes containing scrolls inscribed with verses from the Torah.
Torah: The first five books of the twenty-four books of the Hebrew Bible.
Tsikanis: G. Hello. How are you?
Tsu Gezunt: Y. To your health.
Yeshiva: He. A Jewish institution of higher learning that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts.
About the Author
The son of Holocaust survivors, Endre Farkas was born in Hajdunánás, Hungary. He escaped with his parents during the 1956 Hungarian Uprising and settled in Montreal. A poet, playwright and novelist, Farkas has published nine books of poetry — including Murders in the Welcome Café, Romantic at Heart & Other Faults, How To, and Quotidian Fever, New and Selected Poems, as well as one novel, Never, Again. He has also had two plays produced — Haunted House, which is based on the life and work of the poet A.M. Klein, and Surviving Wor(l)ds, an adaptation of his book of poems Surviving Words. He collaborated with poet Carolyn Marie Souaid on the video poem Blood is Blood, which won first prize at The Berlin International Poetry Film Festival in 2012. Farkas has given readings throughout Canada, USA, Europe and Latin America. He is also the two-time regional winner of the CBC Poetry Face-Off competition. His poems have been translated into French, Spanish, Hungarian, Italian, Slovenian and Turkish.