A WELL KNOW SONG

A minstrel, Flewddur Fam, prepared his mandolin, waits a moment and then starts the famous song:

Somewhere above the black water,

Young Korakas said goodbye to his girlfriend,

But even sadder than Forterein,

Hey, hey, hey falcons!

Fly over mountains, forests and valleys,

It rings, it rings, it rings a bell.

My stepdaughter,

Flies over the heavenly heights,

There are a lot of girls in the world,

Mostly in Forterein.

There, I left my heart

With my dear.

She stayed there alone,

My little swallow,

I am here in this foreign country

I miss it day and night.

My heart is crying,

Sadness, sadness for a girl,

For green Forterein,

Sadness, sadness makes the heart cry,

I will never see her again.

Give me wines, wines, wines!

When she dies, have me beside her

In green Forterein,

In addition to my dear,

Besides my family.

Fly, falcons across celestial heights.

What is interesting about this song, I always wondered? Is it the part that the young man must leave his bellowed behind or that he leaves his country behind? We will never know. But there is something that we know the origins of the song. Most can't even remember where they have heard the song, but they know the song by heart even before the lyrics start.

The origins aren't that romantic as people believe. Two men and woman is all it needs to make a song. Woman with all her unearthly beauty stood frozen with the terror, for she knew what will happen next. The outcome will be the same, one will die and the other will leave in exile.

The first man was a tall, bonny bloke, who was good with a saber. He won a couple of duels, nothing extraordinary, a typical village boaster. His steps were light. The other one was young, strong and skilled with a saber. He was a strange, silent type of bloke that didn't like to boast. His steps were like a cat's. He was ready to strike. Tense muscles moved like a spring. The sabers danced. Dodge, parry, dodge, and parry- repeated on even intervals. The clinging of swords colliding echoed on the field. Sweat dripped down the first man's face. The second one waited for the right moment. And he found it. The saber through the abdomen of the first man, he moved a few steps and fell.

The young Korakas turned, looked at the woman he fought for and left without looking.

And that's how this legendary ballad ends and the song starts.