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Old 4th August 2013, 07:56 PM   #1
TVV
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Default Cretan (?) knife with inscription for translation

Gentlemen,

Please take a look at this knife. Is it from Crete or from somewhere else? Can our Greek speaking members please translate the poem on one side of the blade?

Thank you,
Teodor
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Last edited by TVV; 4th August 2013 at 08:23 PM.
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Old 5th August 2013, 11:48 AM   #2
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Hello,
Not Cretan, one side is inscribed Kydoniai 30 October 1900. Kydoniai is the formal Greek name for the Turkish town of Ayvalık on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor, with a predominantly ethnic Greek population pre-1922. On the other side the inscription reads:
I eat bread with tears, (I drink) poisoned water
I have been raised with sorrows and sufferings
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Andreas
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Old 5th August 2013, 02:29 PM   #3
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An attempt:

"I eat bread with tears, poisoned water...
... I am with with bitterness and sufferings."

Kydonies (Today Chania) 1900
30 October
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Old 5th August 2013, 02:32 PM   #4
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Sorry, the correct:

"I eat bread with tears, poisoned water...
... I am breeds with bitterness and sufferings."

Kydonies (Today Chania) 1900
30 October
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Old 5th August 2013, 02:33 PM   #5
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Hi Teodor,
It is not from Crete, its from Aivali (Kydonies) in Asia Minor coast, in Turkey.
Please make a better photo of the last 2 words in the second row.
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Old 5th August 2013, 02:45 PM   #6
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Ups !

I think Eftihis is right, sorry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayvalık

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kydonia

Anyway, nice knife.
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Old 5th August 2013, 06:03 PM   #7
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Gentlemen,

Thank you very much for the quick responses. Here is hopefully a better photo of the poem.

Teodor
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Old 7th August 2013, 08:14 AM   #8
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Thanks for the photo. Translation remains the same!
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Old 9th August 2013, 02:12 AM   #9
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Thank you very much Eftihis. Why are these inscriptions on Greek knives so elegiac? Are they references to the Ottoman yoke or simply love related?

Teodor
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