STORY

Your lips are pink
your hands are white,
hold my hands baby,
hold a little

In the village I was born
there were no walnut trees
that´s why I starve for a quiet shadow
caress a little

In the village I was born
there were no wheat fields
untie your hair baby
and swing a little

the village I was born
was haunted by bandits at night
that´s why I detest being alone
talk a little

In the village I was born
Northerly winds would blow
that´s why my lips are cracked
kiss a little

Like Turkey, you have a radiant beauty
The village I was born was too
tell me about the place you were born
Tell me a little.

HİKÂYE

Senin dudakların pembe
Ellerin beyaz,
Al tut ellerimi bebek
Tut biraz!

Benim doğduğum köylerde
Ceviz ağaçları yoktu,
Ben bu yüzden serinliğe hasretim
Okşa biraz!

Benim doğduğum köylerde
Buğday tarlaları yoktu,
Dağıt saçlarını bebek
Savur biraz!

Benim doğduğum köyleri
Akşamları eşkıyalar basardı.
Ben bu yüzden yalnızlığı hiç sevmem
Konuş biraz!

Benim doğduğum köylerde
Kuzey rüzgârları eserdi,
Ve bu yüzden dudaklarım çatlaktır
Öp biraz!

Sen Türkiye gibi aydınlık ve güzelsin!
Benim doğduğum köyler de güzeldi,
Sen de anlat doğduğun yerleri,
Anlat biraz!

Cahit KÜLEBİ

The original text uses "köyler" meaning "villages". I was not sure if it made sense in English to say, "In the villages I was born". It sure takes the focus away from a single person and provides a generalization depicting the fate shared by all the remote Anatolian villages. A native speaker could explain whether it is acceptable to say: "In the villages I was born."

Firstly, whether you use ´village´ or ´villages´ you have to put a ´where´ in there - ´In the village where I was born´.  You are right though, ´In the villages where I was born´ isn´t correct in English - however you could say ´In the kind (or type) of village where I was born´ to convey a more generalised meaning.

You can also say ´In the village (In the kind of village) I was born in´ - although to be strictly grammatically correct the end part of that sentence should be ´in which I was born´  Three alternatives to choose from for achieving the best ´flow´   - Personally, I think any one of them would ´fit´ this poem.

P.S. - I just noticed - 3rd line, 2nd verse - I think you meant to type ´quiet´ and not ´quite´

Well, I corrected the spelling error related to "quiet".

I thought I was taking advantage of the ellypsis technique (more common in the US English) when I wrote "In the village I was born". Dropping "where" provides word economy.

I was actually more worried about the end of the poem where there is a weak or incorrect comparison between the beauty of the female character and that of Turkey.

Sorry I don´t know what the ellipsis technique is - I only speak British English - those colonials do such dreadful things to our language! 

Just noticed your edit!  And what is Ringo singing?????  ´In the town WHERE I was born´

Back again ...I just looked up ellipsis...and I realised I do know what it means...not sure of the relevance to leaving out ´where´ though?

Ringo was damn right singing it that way.

I have always found British English to be a lot more difficult than the US one. With all those glottal stops and stringent grammar rules, it is next to impossible to master.

These folks have already taken a great distance in destroying the authenticity of the English language, they seem to be the right guys to co-operate with.

Hmmm....well I don´t employ glottal stops when I speak.  They´re not really ´standard´ English you know!  (I just watched a video - voiced by an American - explaining that there are two ways of pronouncing ´fountain´ in British English, ´founTain´ and ´founain´]  No comment!!

Well, I know that I´m definitely not qualified to take part in your discussion about English language, but just wanted to mention that Bernard Lewis DID say "village" and DID put a "where" in his translation of this poem.

Well Bernard Lewis was British

Anyway, he says "cornfields" which is not true bugday means wheat.

If his assumption that this story is told to a child is true then I completely misunderstood this poem. I must have studied more carefully. I thought the poem was written for a lady.

Another thought came to my mind, Lewis used the verb "fondle", doesn´t this one have some sexual connotations. Can it describe a baby or a child "fondling" a grown up? I am sorry whenever I hear this word I associate it with Benny Hill