Some mother is sighing
night and day she finds no rest
She is waiting for her child
that she has not seen for years.
In her hopelessness
someone informs her
that the palikari * is alive
and, in whatever way, will come back.
She is waiting with patience
and with longing in her heart
The levendis * will return
from his dark ksenitia *.
* 'Palikari' and 'levendi' are essentially untranslatable - this kind of chivalrous ideal of manhood has died out in northern Europe with d'Artagnan.
Ksenitia is litteraly 'emigration', that is, living outside the country of one's birth, but the Greek's tie to Greece being what it is, 'exile' comes closer.
