Τ΄ Άη Γιωρκού [T' Ai Yorkou] [English translation]

On a Good Monday, the day that the food is being shared,

our people put food and water on a boat

It took three days for it to pass by Beirut:

on those lands nor bread, nor water, could be found.

Both bread and water could be found far away, at a plain,

that's where a great dragon used to live

He would never let the water reach human lands,

So the people have to make a promise: he can eat one child from every family, in exchange of letting the water pass to them.

Some people had six children, some others had eight, and they all had to send one to the dragon,

And now the time has come for our Great King to send his child too.

He only had an only daughter, and she was ready to marry,

but he was forced to send her to the dragon instead.

As if the girl was a saint, as if Jesus had heard her cries,

Saint George came down from the heavens,

with his golden saddle, and his golden horse.

He stood right next to her and thought:

"How should i greet her?

I can't call her a clove, cloves have sticks,

And i can't call her a rose, roses have thorns.

I shall greet her with our most used greeting:

"Have a nice day, beautiful girl, have a nice day and be healthy,

May cloves and roses always decorate your forehead.

Tell me, what are you doing here, beautiful girl, here at the great dragon's water well?

It's dangerous here, he may try to eat you soon."

"My good sir, i don't have enough time to narrate you all of our problems: human beings are so hungry that they are eating eachother's flesh.

As for me, my destiny was written like this:

I have to make the dragon's stomach my last home"

Suddenly the dragon rose from the ground,

and when he saw that there were three of them, he got very excited. He said:

"I shall eat the man with just one bite and at noon i shall eat the girl.

And by the time the sun sets, i will have eaten the horse, and its saddle too."

The saint then stabbed the dragon so violently, that it shook the whole town,

even the King's throne cracked and broke.

He then took out of his bag very large chains,

with which he tamed the huge serpent.

"Take its corpse with you, beautiful girl, take it to the town,

So that non-baptized people see it and go get baptized,

So that infidels see it and start believing."

When our King saw his daughter alive he got very excited.

"Who is this man who did this favor to me?

I shall give him my kingdom and all of my treasures,

I shall give him my daughter and he should become her husband."

And then, the saint replied, and he said repeatedly:

"Your kingdom i do not want, i do not want your treasures.

The only thing i want from you is to build a church for the memory of saint George,

Whose death anniversary is today, on 23 of April."

• Artist:Alkinoos Ioannidis
• Album:Που δύσην ως ανατολήν 2006