Wer sich einem Verstaendnis des australischen Nationalcharakters naehern will, so wurde mir versichert, der muss sich zunaechst einem Verstaendnis der “Waltzing Matilda”, der gescheiterten, kontroversen, vielleicht eigentlichen, jedenfalls inoffiziellen Nationalhymne naehern. Wenn Sie also eine Minute Zeit haben, versuchen Sie doch ihr Glueck!
“Once a jolly swagman sat beside the billabong,
Under the shade of a coolibah tree,
And he sang as he sat and waited by the billabong
You’ll come a waltzing matilda with me
Waltzing matilda, waltzing matilda
You’ll come a waltzing matilda with me
And he sang as he sat and waited by the billabong
You’ll come a waltzing matilda with me.
Down came a jumbuck to drink beside the billabong
Up jumped the swagman and seized him with glee
And he sang as he tucked jumbuck in his tuckerbag
You’ll come a waltzing matilda with me…”
Oh, pardon! An den Vokabeln solls nicht scheitern:
“BILLABONG A blind channel or meander leading out from a river.
COOLIBAH Sometimes spelled coolabah: a species of gum or eucalyptus tree.
SWAGMAN An Australian tramp, so called on account of the ‘swag’, usually a chaff bag, containing his ‘billy’, provisions and blankets.
BILLY An open topped tin can, with a wire carrying handle, used as a kettle for boiling water into which tea was thrown.
TUCKER BAG A bag for ‘tucker’ or food; part of the ‘swag’.
JUMBUCK A sheep. The term is a corruption of ‘jump up’ (Macquarie Dictionary, 3rd rev. ed. Sydney: Macquarie, 2001)
SQUATTER A grazier, or station (ranch) owner. Note that the meaning of the word changed later in the twentieth century to mean a person who occupied or resided at a property illegally.”
Nein? Immer noch nichts? No worries! Die Aussies versuchen seit ueber hundert Jahren den Sinn dieser Zeilen zu entschluesseln. Ohne Ergebnis. Und jetzt wissen Sie schon ein wenig mehr ueber den australischen Nationalcharakter. Ein wenig…
