WIKITONGUES: Iñaki speaking Basque

My name is Iñaki López Luzuriaga

And, (i am) Basque.

Basque is spoken in the Basque Country,

and it is spoken by around 800.000 people,

and I have been asked to do a recording

of my speech and language here,

so here I am.

And, well, beside that,

I wil tell something,

as I said, I am a 'txalaparta' player too

and I play 'txalaparta'.

The 'txalaparta' is an instrument

played by two people,

a musical instrument,

and it usually consists of three, four

or sometimes even more wooden planks,

which can also be made of stone, or metal too...

And well, in the beginning, it was always

about cider, about the cider house.

Initially it was, let's say,

once the cider was made,

the neighbours were called

to come over and celebrate,

and it was celebrated by playing 'txalaparta'

Well, then, thaid said,

I also.. I also sing,

so I'll sing something.

Therefore, it reads as follows:

the song is called 'Mendian lar artean',

it was made famous by Benito Lertxundi,

if he didn’t create the song himself.

It goes like this:

In the mountains, among the meadows

a little flower is to be found

next to it, a child, looking at the flower

The flower wants to tell him/her:

little child, set me free,

I was born to be free, not to be tied up.

The child, realizing that the flower cannot live,

wants to remove its thorns,

and give it a new life.

For then it will have strenght and boldness,

for then it will bear its fruit abundantly.

The child, realizing that the flower cannot live,

wants to remove its thorns,

and give it a new life.

For then it will have strenght and boldness,

for then it will bear its fruit abundantly.