Christian, Open Up Your Door
Romanian Traditional Carol, Deschide Uşa
English Translation by Unknown
Translation provided by Cristian Mocanu, a member of Christmas
International
1. Christian, open up your door,
So that we, too, could come to you.
Happy new year, and all good things.
2. We have been to Bethlehem.
Where Christ was born.
Happy new year, and all good things.
3. We have also seen His mother,
Whose name is Mary
Happy new year, and all good things.
4. As she walked from house to house
In order to give birth to her Son.
Happy new year, and all good things.
5. She walked up and she walked down,
In order to give birth to Christ.
Happy new year, and all good things.
In order to give birth to Jesus.
Happy new year, and all good things.
7. The angels, with flowers in their hands,
Were knitting a nice crown.
Happy new year, and all good things.
8. On the crown it is nicely written:
Christ is born today.
Happy new year, and all good things.
9. On the crown it is written
That the Messiah is born.
Happy new year, and all good things.
10. Who, with His might,
Will reign over the world.
Happy new year, and all good things.
Cristian included this note concerning the three carols that he emailed:
All 3 of them are folkloric, i.e. they have no known author. The first two seem to have existed since times immemorial. They are documented from the late 18th,early 19th century. They were known throughout the country and, having no distinctive dialectal features, one cannot determine where they originated either.
Between 1948 and 1989, one got arrested for singing these or any other similar carol publicly. The very word "Christmas" was banned. Saying it in a larger gathering meant expulsion from school or from any well-paid job. Only the carols making no explicit mention of Christ, Mary or the word Christmas were somehow permitted. But people still treasured them and they were never lost.
This 3rd one [this carol] has a somehow different history. It comes from the Maramures (northwestern Romania) a region where traditions were exceptionally well preserved. A lot of beautiful carols were discovered there during the 1990-s by the ethnologist Ioan Zubascu, and thanks to the Maramures-born, now Canada-based singer Stefan Hrusca, they rapidly became a hit throughout Romania.
You should hear the first two sung by the Bucharest Madrigal Choir and this one by Stefan Hrusca. Even to those who don't understand the words it brings tears to their eyes!
The other two carols which Cristian sent were:
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