Tokhaḥat megula (The Admonition of Magula)
Ḥayim Yom-Tob Magula
ca. 1739
The World Upside Down
Here is a song that I created,
well composed and uncomplicated;
you can call it a song or call it a dirge.
I’d like to tell you some of my troubles:
some men have problems by the ounce or the dram,
but I, poor wretch, have them by the hundredweight.
I don’t know what to do or who to tell them to,
or to whom I can recount my troubles in this world.
It was a dark day when I took up this work
—things were good before and I was comfortable,
never lacking bread in my basket—
but I said, “I’ll gain status and respect,
and shall be honored by the world.”
I know now that this was a great mistake:
this work is all frustration and restraint,
and the future I’d pictured was a fantasy.
I shall suffer more and shall not gain,
and shall be scorned by all the world.
Before, I made everybody around me happy;
now, nobody mentions my name unless it is to criticize me.
How could I not cry?
How could I not sing a mournful song
and complain about the world?
Before, I was loved by old and young alike,
the mere sight of my face made them happy;
now, when they see me, they turn their heads to face the other way.
How am I to take this?
How am I expected to bear the evil in this world?
I am despised by the rich and the poor,
my longtime friends act like they don’t know me,
all my plans have been thwarted.
Where shall I go?
Can I find a path where I shall not lose my way in the world?
Whenever I encounter a rich man, I am greatly troubled
for he expects me to do what I am told,
regardless of whether it is ethical or not.
How am I to handle this situation? Who should I listen to?
Who should I try to please in this world?
The poor man is focused on survival,
and asks for nothing but to do what he must,
wanting no one to judge if it is crooked or just.
But if I do not question it, I shall lose my soul
and shall be punished in the next world.
By speaking ill of me, they use their lantern
to burn the candle of one who hasn’t a candle to his name.
It is enough to keep a weary man up at night.
Say what you like, I shall speak; say what you like, I shall talk;
but I cannot still the chatter of the world.
They sit down to talk in vain;
One says to the other, “What can I tell you, brother?
He has it easy, this writer.”
And when I hear this, how it will pain me!
My heart will be broken by the chatter of the world.
The other replies, “I won’t say a word.
But he sits at home and still gets paid,
Makes his living without a stroke of work.
If I had the guts, I would have revenge on him
And bring him down in the eyes of the world.”1
A cruel word stings like a splinter;
they do not see my expenses, how much things cost
or the impact of the occasional illness.
How shall I get by? What shall I live on
and how shall I steer my way through this world?
And the worst part of all: I cannot say a word,
either out of shame or out of fear;
instead of replying, I remain silent;
if I did reply, I would be in danger,
and would obtain nothing from the people of the world.
God in heaven, find me some other pursuit
even if it is other poorly paid work,
for I am not one to covet possessions;
perhaps I shall take time off and serve God
and shall gain something for the next world.
He is powerful, merciful, and faithful,
and I have always put my trust in Him;
may He give me my home in Erets Yisra’el:
there I shall die, there I shall be buried,
and go directly to the next world.
A New World
It is fitting to give praise,
this praise and many greater ones,
to the God who is slow to anger,
creator of the entire world
who showed me this day
of peace among the Jews;
we all took great pleasure
and joy, every one in our world.
How was I fortunate enough
to see peace and abundance?
May God let it last,
and grant some rest to this world.
Peace is what cured my ills
for God made me aware
that if I did not have patience
I should be banished from the world.
For I was half dead,
And was lame, hunchbacked, crooked;2
the day I saw a dispute,
darkness overtook my world.
Because there was bad blood among
neighbors living around a shared courtyard:
siblings, parent, and child
who could not agree with their world.
What was this adversity
and this determination to quarrel?
If what I’m saying is madness,
may I be forgiven by the God of the world.
Like unbroken wild colts,
people spoke of “us” and “you”;
animosity between one group and another
was destroying the world.
Night and day they gathered,
throwing around ducats
and piasters by the fistful
to the multitudes3 of the world.
All were furious at me
but they were mistaken;
it is a kapparah for my sins,
all that I have endured in the world.
Everything that occurred
I believed happened for the best,
for I regained my former status;
now I came into the world.
I hope to the Almighty
that now I shall be able to rest,
for I emerged from a deep well
to see the light of the world.
Do not take it amiss
or think me frivolous
for writing a song in Franko4
so it will be understood by everyone in our world.
As I am no rapacious man
I speak my words in measure:5
truth and prudence and peace
are what sustain the world.
Peace is much praised
and depends upon the Law;
and even without support,
they will conquer the world.
This is what any man
with a brain should do:
we must trace where our lineage
comes from in the world.
It has always been said of the Jewish people
that we are many bodies with a single soul;
we all descend from the same branch
and the same root in the world.
It is for this reason that we must take great care
to avoid going down the wrong path
and to ensure that we live in peace and harmony
all the days of the world.
May the One who revealed this way of life to us
also reveal the Messiah to us without delay;
may we see him in all his glory upon his throne,
and may he renew everybody in the world.
Translated by .
Steven
Capsuto
This illustration from a book of prayers for the Jewish Gravediggers Society depicts the cycle of life. Figures of men and women in pairs ascend and descend the staircase, progressing from youth to old age. In the middle of the picture are (left) infants in a cradle and (right) an elderly couple, either sleeping in bed or already dead. On the left, set in a fresh and leafy tree, a vignette shows a marriage scene. On the right, in a dry tree without leaves, but with an owl (symbolizing death) perched on a branch, a vignette illustrates a burial scene. Below is a funeral procession and separate images of a woman and a man saying prayers at a grave.
Notes
[It is unclear whether the last two lines of this verse are spoken by the person criticizing the poet, or if the poet is saying he would like to avenge himself upon the one criticizing him.—Trans.]
[Tuerto can mean “crooked” (physically or morally or criminally) as well as “one-eyed” or “blind in one eye.”—Trans.]
[I.e., the neighbors hate the poet because they think he lives a life of comfort and wastes money on luxuries, when in fact they are the ones throwing money around.—Trans.]
[Franko: A once-common name for Ladino among Ottoman Jews. The word’s connotation is “Western European language.”—Trans.]
[I.e., it is a song to be sung. Lit. “in rhythm” and “with prudence and self-control.”—Trans.]
Credits
Ḥayim Yom-Tob Magula, “El Mundo al Revés (The World Upside Down): Un Mundo Nuevo (A New World),” in Tokhahat Megula (The Admonition of Magula) (Smyrna, 1739). Republished in: Elena Romero, “Ḥayim Yom-Tob Magula y su poesía moralizante,” Sefarad, vol. 58, no. 1 (June 30, 1998): pp. 167–181 (171–180).
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 5.
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