Turn, my dear horse! (Fordulj kedves lovam) Translation of a Hungarian folk song

This Hungarian folk song is about being in exile. You can listen to it in a quite original version performed by Zoltán Kallós. (For Hungarian folk song's credits see folkradio.hu)

See also another version by a Hungarian popular folk singer, Márta Sebestyén.

Here I give the rough translation into English verse by verse.

fordulj kedves lovam napszentület felé

úgyse jövünk többet soha visszafelé

messze földre megyek elbujdosok innet

szép szülőhazámat nem látom meg többet

turn, my dear horse, to the western set of the Sun

anyway, we will never return to this way backwards

I go to a distant land, I exile from here

I will never see my beautiful fatherland again

fújd el jó szél fújd el hosszú útnak porát

hosszú útnak porát fakó lovam nyomát

jó ló volt a fakó jó a viselete

áldja meg az isten aki felnevelte

Blow, good wind, blow away the dust of the long way

blow the dust of the way, the footprint of my gray horse

he was a good horse, he had a good manner

God bless who brought him up

porladozik csontja fekete főd nyomja

az én bús szívem is csak a bú rongálja

árva vagyok árva mint réten a tarló

kinek ékességét elvette a sarló

His bones are getting crumbled, black soil opresses on him

my sad heart is solely destructed by the grief

I am abandoned and abandoned, as the stubble in the field

whose gem was taken away by the sickle

az idegen földön olyan beteg vagyok

szomszédim házáig alig elámbolygok

szomszédim azt mondják talán meg is halok

én is azt gondolom meg sem is maradok

I am so sick in a foreign land

I can hardly wabble to my neighbours' house

my neighbours say I likely will die

I also think I can't remain alive

idegen országban idegen emberek

járok az utcákon senkit nem ismerek

szólanék hozzájuk de ők nem értenek

ezen az én szívem de nagyon kesereg

foreign people in a foreign land

I am wandering along the streets and I know nobody

I would accost them but they can't understand me

my heart lament on this so much

Exile and a force to immigrate is a basic experience of generations of Hungarians. They say that you can hear someone speak Hungarian in the most surprising parts of the world. They also say this language has an extraordinary intonation.

I remember, I was doing my shopping in a Market Basket (though I prefer Hannaford) in Nashua, NH, USA, with my partner, some years ago. Of course, we were talking about the goods in Hungarian. A lady came to me, asking:

-- Excuse me, I am sorry to disturb you! My little daughter is curious to know what language you speak. And I am unable to answer her.

-- It's Hungarian – we answered.

The woman left repeating the world 'Hungarian' until she reached the excited little girl, who was very happy with the answer.