feina o menjar
English translation: work or food
| 11:40 Jun 12, 2009 |
| Catalan to English translations [PRO] Art/Literary - Folklore | |||||||
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|  Selected response from: Sheila Hardie Spain Local time: 13:46 | ||||||
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| Summary of answers provided | ||||
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| 4 +1 | work or food |
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| 3 +2 | work or food |
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| Feina o menjar |
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Answers
2 mins confidence: 
peer agreement (net): +1
peer agreement (net): +1work or food Explanation: it is the only thinkable translation, as far as I know |
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Notes to answerer
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9 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +2
peer agreement (net): +2work or food Explanation: Literally, 'feina' means 'work' and 'menjar' means 'food' (or 'to eat'). But I think it's 'food' in this context. From what I have read in the following article (in Catalan), these wee goblins - ask for 'work' or 'food' when they come out of their bottle. And the person who opens the bottle has to decide whether to give them work or food. http://pp-arta.blogspot.com/2008/06/es-fameliar.html - Veuràs: mengen i no mengen. S'han de tenir dins una ampolla negra, ben tapada. Quan volen que facin alguna cosa, la destapen, i surten tot d'una. I de seguida ja demanen: feina o menjar! feina o menjar!... I no callen fins que els han donat una cosa de ses dos. Si els donen feina de sol a sol cada dia i mica de menjar, no es queixen, no. I si els donen menjar sempre seguit i mica de feina, tampoc. Lo que no volen és estar sense fer res. http://www.mitcat.net/menuda/index.htm HTH Sheila -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 11 minutes (2009-06-12 11:52:17 GMT) -------------------------------------------------- It says that they don't shut up until you give them one of the two things (i.e. work or food). And if you give them lots of work every day and only a wee bit of food, they don't complain. And if you give them food followed by a little work, they don't mind either. What they don't want is to be idle. -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 15 minutes (2009-06-12 11:56:01 GMT) -------------------------------------------------- According to this reference, these little goblins (Fameliars) like bread and cheese apparently! And when they come out of their bottle they constantly ask for work and food. They are so hard-working that the only way of tiring them out is giving them impossible tasks to do. El fameliar és molt nerviós i quan surt de l'ampolla diu;som es fameliar, vull feina o menjar i qui l'ha fet sortir li encarrega la feina. També se li pot deixar menjar ja què aprecia molt el pa amb formatge. Quan surt de l'ampolla, demana constantment feina o menjar. És tan treballador que l'única manera d'aconseguir que es cansi és manar-li feines impossibles. Per fer-lo tornar a entrar dins l'ampolla s'ha d'agafar una branqueta beneïda d'olivera i resar una oració que s'ha perdut. Es coneixen casos de persones que van ser jutjades per la Inquisició durant l'Edat Moderna per tenir fameliars a casa. http://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fameliar -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 17 minutes (2009-06-12 11:58:32 GMT) -------------------------------------------------- Here's an article in English that mentions them: Incidentally, as folklorists may have noticed, the strange-looking fellow summoned from the riverbed who constantly bellows ‘Work or food!' is not a barruguet but a fameliar. http://www.liveibiza.com/ibiza_literature/eva_lis_wuorio_ibi... -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 19 minutes (2009-06-12 12:00:03 GMT) -------------------------------------------------- "Fameliar" "Fameliar", is the third of our familiar spirits. If the Berrugets and Follets can be understood as "bad", rather restless, mischievous and noisy spirits, the "Fameliars" are definitely "good spirits". "Fameliars" are in our world to help us to work hard. Very hard, in fact. Every time they get released from the little black bottle where they are kept by their possessor, they start shouting: "Work or Food! Work or Food!" And they will not stop until we give them one or the other. But not just an ordinary meal or job; when he starts eating, he can eat more then six men together and when he works, he does it harder and faster then ten. As soon as he finishes with a meal or a job, he starts again: "Work or Food! Work or Food!" To keep them quiet we have to keep them eating or working all the time, until they are sent back to their little black bottle. To put them back into the bottle, the possessor had to say a little prayer, but nobody remembers the words nowadays. There are a few big jobs attributed to the "Fameliars" on the Island, such as an old house, "Cas Prats" about two kilometres from Sant Antoni on the way to "Es Broll". This house was build over one night by one "Fameliar". In "Can Roix" in Sant Josep, a "Fameliar" also did the dry-stone-walls, with stones so big that five men were needed to embrace them, over night. They could reap in a night the entire fields of a big "finca", as it happen in "Fruitera" by Santa Gertrudis, etc. There is an infallible formula to get your own "Fameliar". You have to go under the old bridge of Santa Eularia River, the night of Sant Joan (23rd June) or the first night of the year, (1st January) with a little black bottle. Under the bridge grows a little herb known as "Herba des Fameliar", which only blossoms with a very small flower these particular nights. You have to put the herb into the bottle and leave it open and alone almost all night, then, before the sun comes out, you go back to collect the bottle and put the top on. The bottle will be then much heavier, which means that the "Fameliar" is already in it. There is still far more to say about these fantastic creatures. Most probably we will go back to them in future editions. Until then, be as happy as you can and keep away from the "flu". http://www.liveibiza.com/ibiza_ecology/myths_ibiza_1.htm |
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Notes to answerer
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48 mins |
| Reference: Feina o menjar Reference information: Apparently a book about this topic was published: ES FAMELIAR, FEINA O MENJAR, amb il·lustracions de la mateixa autora (BIM), Res Publica Edicions S.L., amb ajut de la Conselleria d’Educació del Govern de les Illes Balears, Barcelona 2002. Here's an excerpt from http://www.blogdeibiza.com/2008/06/los-fameliars.html: Cuenta una leyenda ibicenca que la noche de San Juan, a las doce en punto, crece debajo del puente del río de Santa Eulalia una hierbecita pequeña que enseguida desaparece. Si eres astuto y te da tiempo a cogerla, debes meterla en una botella de cristal oscuro. En ese momento, habrás cazado un Fameliar. Los Fameliars son una especie de duendecillos muy feos, con una fuerza descomunal y con voz chillona. Cuando los sacas de la botella pedirán a su dueño “feina o menjar”, es decir, trabajo o comida. Si le das trabajo, son capaces de construir una casa en una noche. Pero ve con cuidado, porque de la misma manera que trabajan, comen, y si no les das trabajo en un pis pas acabarán con todo lo comestible de tu nevera y despensa. In a nutshell: Ibiza has a legend according to which on the night of San Juan (June 23 to June 24, midsummer night) at twelve o'clock a little herb grows beneath the bridge of the Santa Eulalia River which after appearing disappears very quickly. If you're clever and manage to grab it very quickly, you should put the little plant in a dark glass bottle. You will have caught a 'fameliar'. The 'fameliars' are very ugly fairy spirits with discommunal strength and shrill voices. When the cork is removed from the bottle in which the fameliar is kept the fameliar asks the owner for 'feina o menjar', i. e. work or food. If you give him work, a fameliar is capable of building a house in just one night. But be careful - they work like they eat! If you don't give your fameliar work right away he will devour anything edible in your fridge and pantry. I hope this explains the 'feina o menjar' part. |
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