Work Text:
“I am a penniless travelling warrior, searching between bittersweet stars; no wounds, sorrows or enemies, at the haven I march to.”
Fordo would mind the singing less if it was less unsettling; in Mando’a, ‘searching’ also means both ‘lost’ and ‘grieving’.
“I march home to my parent, march home and will not leave; I march across the star-road, I march away to home.”
This is not a ghost ship. Hopefully. He’s not going to ask; that might result in the ship vanishing and them all getting dumped in hard vacuum, seeing as they’re currently in hyperspace.
“Dark shadows camouflage me, my march is hard and long; but white fields wait for me, where tired eyes do not weep. I march home to my siblings, march home and will not leave; I march across the star-road, I march away to home.”
It’s an infuriatingly memorable tune too; Fordo can hum along without really thinking about it and the words stick.
“I will be free of every endurance, my flesh will sleep between the stars; I will leave the weight of honour, and march home beyond time. I march home to my leader, march home and will not leave; I march across the star-road, I march away to home.”
“Is it about going home or about dying?” Nimbus asks uneasily, shifting in his seat.
“Yes,” Fordo says shortly over his hand of cards; this is still better than the song about various missing or destroyed starships, their casualties remembered as ‘lost and breathless, never found.’
Ni boracyk kemir beroya, echoy acyk aay'han ka'ra;
Ne shupure, rohak ra aru, sha morute ni taabi at.
I am a penniless travelling bounty hunter, searching between bittersweet stars;
No wounds, defeats or enemies, at the havens I march to.
Ni taabe'yaim at ner buire, ni taabe'yaim nu ba'slanar;
Ni taab'echaaj'la ka'ra goyust, ni taab'echaaj'la at Manda.
I march home to my parents, I march home and will not leave;
I march far away along the star-road, I march away to my soul's home.
Werda prudiise hodasal ni, taabe urakto bal munit;
Al cin vhetin parer par ni, pir'ekulor nu sur'haai.
Dark shadows camouflage me, the march is hard and long;
But white fields wait for me, where no eyes weep.
Ni taabe'yaim at an ner vode, ni taabe'yaim nu ba'slanar
Ni taab'echaaj'la ka'ra goyust, ni taab'echaaj'la at Manda.
I march home to all my siblings, I march home and will not leave;
I march far away along the star-road, I march away to my soul's home.
Ni ven'cuy mav be an aaray, ner agol nuhoy ti ka'ra;
Ni diryci kando be ijaat, bal taabe'yaim suum ca'nara.
I will be free of all pain, my flesh will sleep between the stars;
I will leave the weight of honour, and march home beyond time.
Ni taabe'yaim at ner Mand'alor, ni taabe'yaim nu ba'slanar
Ni taab'echaaj'la ka'ra goyust, ni taab'echaaj'la at Manda.
I march home to my Leader, I march home and will not leave;
I march far away along the star-road, I march away to my soul's home.
Translation Notes
Quite a lot of words and phrasing was chosen or changed so that it scanned with the tune or the syllabic structure of the song. The choice of 'morute' in the second line and 'buire' in the third was because I needed an extra syllable to scan correctly. This was the same for the phrases 'At an ner vode', 'kando be ijaat' (instead of the more correct b'ijaat), and the reversal of 'pir'ekulor nu sur'haai' from the more correctly translated 'sur'haai nu'pir'ekulor'. 'Werda prudiise hodasal ni' gave me some trouble because technically 'werda' and 'prudiise' can be the same thing, but it scanned well and emphasises the darkness, so I was OK with it.
The change of Umei_no_Mai's 'I march away to home' to 'I march away to Manda' was something I agonised over, as it changes the song's meaning from being about both home and death to being more explicitly about death and the final journey.
Only one word created in this, and I think it's pretty self-explanatory!
taabe'yaim - march home