The Ballad of Yoel Moshe Salomon
By Arik Einshtein
English Translation:
The Ballad of Yoel Moshe Salomon
On a humid morning in 5638 (1878)
During the grape season
Five riders went from Jaffa on horses.
Shtamper came and Guttmann came
And Zerach Barnet
And Yoel Moshe Salomon,
With a sword in his sash.
And with them rode Mazaraki
The silver haired doctor
Along the Yarkon,
the wind sang in the bamboo reeds.
Beside “Umlabess” (Petach Tikvah) they stopped
In the heart of the swamps and thicket
And up a small hill they climbed
To see the surroundings.
Mazaraki said to them
After a short time:
“I don’t hear birds
And it’s a terrible sign.
If birds aren’t singing
Death rules here,
We should go out of here fast,
Here I go.”
The doctor jumped on his horse
For he pitied his health,
And the three friends turned
To return to the city with him.
Yoel Salomon then said
With his visionary eyes:
“I’m staying the night here
On this hill.”
And he remained on the hill
And between midnight and the light,
Suddenly, Salomon grew
The wings of a bird.
To where he flew, to where he flew
No one knows
Maybe it was only a dream
Maybe just a legend.
But when the morning arose again
Across the mountains
The cursed valley was filled
With chirping of birds.
And some say, until today
Along the Yarkon
The birds sing of Yoel
Moshe Salomon.
© Hebrew-Language.com
