Flowers and Olive Oil

July 4, 2020

Foreign Words and Phrases in Trevanian’s Shibumi

Filed under: Uncategorized — Kru @ 4:11 am

The magically good book Shibumi, by Trevanian, has several foreign language words and phrases in
it, mostly Japanese, Basque, and French. Some of these are translated by the author for the ease of the
reader (including some questionable translations), while others are not.

My translations of Basque are largely informed by Andrew Brown’s 2011 translation of Philippe
Veyrin’s 1942 book, Les Basques de Labourd, de Soule et de Basse-Navarre: Leur histoire et leurs traditions,
which appears to have been a source used by the author. Some of the translations listed are based off
of my own translation of Veyrin’s original French, or translated myself from the original Basque with
help from R. L. Trask’s Etymological Dictionary of Basque (ed. Wheeler).

Similarly, the French culinary terms (notably the menu from Hel’s meal with de Lhandes) appear to
be sourced from the 1921 culinary masterwork, Le Guide Culinaire, by Auguste Escoffier. However,
unlike Veyrin’s book, by the time of Shibumi’s publication many translations of Le Guide were
available in English.

If I have missed any words you want, please feel free to ask.

ahuñe-mendi: Auñamendi, aka Pic d’Anie, the name of one of the tallest Pyrnees mountains.
aji: potential; the various ways the game could still turn out
aji ga warui: the ability to threaten lies with the opponent
aji keshi: to make a play that does you more harm than good; a play that ruins your own chances
of future good plays
Alla Jainkoa!: “By God!” (Correct spelling is “Ala Jainkoa!”)
amah: nanny/maid
Arrats gorriak eguraldi: “Red evenings bring fine weather.”
Arrête un peu et sois sage: “Give it a rest and behave yourself.”
artzain chola / artzain xola: a shepherd’s hut, built on the pastureland, designed to be his
temporary residence during the spring milking season. (Modern spelling is “artzain txola.” In
Basque, “tx” is pronounced like the English “ch,” and the author (quoting Veyrin) often uses this
older spelling style with “ch” instead of the modern “tx.”)
Atzerri, otzerri: “Land of foreigners, land of wolves.” From atze (outsider), erri (country), and otso
(wolf).
Au revoir: “See you later.” When de Lhandes replies that “au revoir” is not correct, he is telling
Hel that Hel will not see him again. Therefore the correct farewell is “adieu,” which is “goodbye.”
bai: yes
ban: the board that Go is played on, often built into a low table.
blinis: small Russian pancakes used as vehicles for various garnishes
bof: meh
bombe: an ice cream desert molded into a half-sphere. Escoffier offers more than 60 varieties in his
Guide.
Bouffons!: Let’s eat!
carnet de bal: literally “ball’s notebook,” a program that lists the order of dances at a ball, in which
to keep track both of dances and promised dance partners
C’est mon métier: “It’s my job.”
chaises longues: lounge chairs, (literally “long chairs”)
Chori bakhoitzari eder bere ohantzea: “Every bird (“txori”) finds his own nest beautiful.”
chez: the place belonging to (for example, “chez Jean” would be “Jean’s place.” A lot of cafés in
France are named “chez [owner]”)
col: mountain pass
curé: a parish priest
dan: a professional Go player’s rank, ranging from 1 to 9 with the ninth dan being the highest and
most skilled. Amateurs are ranked by kyu instead.
Danicheff salad: crayfish tails, hard-boiled eggs, and truffles seasoned with mayonnaise over
heaps of celery root, potato, artichoke, raw mushroom, and asparagus heads.
de: putting your own Go stone amidst your enemy’s
digestifs: after-dinner drinks
Edward VII: stuffed with foie gras, marinated in Marsala wine, and served “très froid” (very cold)
Eskual-herri: The Basque Country. (This is a regional variant of the more generally used modern
name, Euskal Herria.)
esteka: Strangely, this word appears to have several meanings (link, ligament, string, tie…), but
other than Veyrin’s book, I can’t seem to find a source to support its definition as a curse of
physical deficiency.
étagère: display shelf
figue: “fig”; a fist with the thumb tucked between the index and middle fingers. In many
European countries, this is equivalent to an American giving someone the finger. Or at least it
was. The gesture has somewhat fallen out of fashion.
fin-de-siècle: turn of the century
Florentine: in the style of Florence, Italy. In this case, stuffed with spinach, coated in mornay sauce
and sprinkled with gruyère. Escoffier’s mornay sauce specifically calls for equal parts gruyère and
parmesan.
fronton: a large wall adjacent to a courtyard, used specifically for a number of Basque ball games
furikawari: an exchange; to deliberately accept the loss of ground or power in one area in order to
gain it in another
fuseki: The opening stage of a game of Go when the entire board is taken into account.
gaijin: foreigner, outsider
gave: river, specifically one of the rivers descending from the Pyrenees Mountains
gigot: leg of lamb
glacés variées: various dessert ices
Goiz gorriak dakarke uri: “Red mornings bring rain.” Notice here that this statement is not
actually a contradiction of “Arrats gorriak eguraldi” because “arrats” is evening, but “goiz” is
morning. Both of these statements are usually said together, the idea being that the meaning of a
red sky depends on the time of day that you see it. Nicholai is poking fun a little.
Gokuro sama: “Thank you for your trouble.”
gouffre: chasm
gratin: the upper-crust
Haji desu: “It is a disgrace.”
hama: “dead” Go stones that are removed from the game board
hane: reach-around; to play diagonally around the other player
Hegoak hegala urean du: “The south wind has a wing in the water.”
Hori phensatu zuenak, ongi afaldu zuen!: “Whoever thought that up had a good dinner!” (Correct
spelling is “Hori pentsatu zuenak, ongi afaldu zuen!” or possibly “zuten!”) This is a traditional
response to hearing something considered exceptionally genius.
hinomaru: the Japanese flag
I! Abi!: Begone (Latin). The Latin is actually just “Abi!” The “I” in the novel is an error on the
author’s part, taken from the entry under the Latin verb “abeo” from Rev. Joseph Esmond
Riddle’s 1837 book, The Young Scholar’s Latin-English Dictionary. The entry says in a note “NB. I.
Abi, Begone!” but the “I” in this case is actually a quirk of the font the dictionary uses. It is a
number 1. This entry is immediately followed by “2. Abin’ for abisne? will you go? i.e. get you
gone.”
Ici on n’a pas d’huile, mas on a des idées: “We don’t have oil here, but we have ideas.”
Irouléguy: wine from Basque vineyards
Izarra: 80-proof sweet liqueur made in the Basque country. There are two varieties: “yellow,”
which is flavored like almond, and “green,” flavored like peppermint.
jus d’ananas: pineapple juice
kaketsugi: a “hanging connection”; rather than blocking off the way for your opponent to cut
through your defenses, you play such that they can try it, but to do so would be a dangerous play
for them
ke: the bowl in which the Go stones are kept
kikashi: Go moves that take the entire board into account and build up to have an eventual, rather
than immediate, positive effect
kir: white wine flavored with blackcurrant liqueur. I know the book lampoons Americans who
claim to enjoy kir, but I am an American, and the one time I had kir it was excellent.
ko: a Go play which puts the player in a position which is no better (or even different) than the
previous position, because it involves one side making a kill and the opposing side making
another kill immediately thereafter.
korigatachi: having a solidified position, one in which it would be difficult to gain new ground
kumshah: tip or bribe; also spelled cumshaw
la vérité à la Cinquième République: the truth to the French Fifth Republic. Note here that the
truth of the French Fifth Republic would be “de la” rather than “à la.”
langue d’oc: The Occitan Language, a dialect of French native to Southern France, Monaco, and
Northwest Italy.
Ma foi!: “My faith!” Imagine an exasperated person saying, “Honestly!”
miles gloriosus: swaggering soldier. This is also the name of an ancient comedic play.
mousse: aka mus, a trick-taking game (similar to bridge) where the players attempt to subtly
signal the contents of their hands to their partners by means of pre-defined gestures and body
language.
nikko heru: “sunlight diminishes.” The pun is that the Japanese way of pronouncing Nicholai
Hel’s name literally refers to a reduction of sunlight, hence making Nikko “a man of the twilight.”
Nola neurtcen baituçu hala neurtuco çare çu: From Matthew 7:2 – “For with the same measure
that you use, so shall you be measured.” This passage in Basque is engraved over the door of a
mill in modern Ascain, France.
nozoki: “peep”; to play adjacent to the space between two of your opponent’s stones
Orhiko choria Orhin laket: “The bird (“txoria”) of Mount Orhy is pleased with Mount Orhy.”
pala: Basque racquetball, played with a wooden racquet
patron: the one in charge
petit commercant: small shopkeeper. (Correct spelling is commerçant.)
port-cochère: a coachman’s door; a covered entrance large enough for vehicles to pass through,
typically opening into a courtyard
porte-fenêtre: French doors; that is, two door-sized windows that open out from each other
putain: whore
raillère: a slope, sometimes specifically a steep one, making up the side of a hill, mound, or
mountain
rebot: a game similar to jai alai
relevé: additional course
riz à la grecque: “Greek rice,” rice pilaf with onion, sausage, lettuce, peas, and red peppers
sabaki: An attempt to dispose of a troublesome situation in a quick and flexible way. Particularly,
an easy way to break through into another’s territory.
sagarra: apple tree
seki: A neutral situation in which neither Go player has the advantage. A “Mexican standoff.”
shicho: A running attack. Specifically this refers to a particular kind of trap in the game of Go, also
called a “ladder,” where it is not usually possible to escape and in fact attempting to do so makes
matters worse.
shicho atari: a “ladder breaker,” the way out of the trap
sokaijin: someone who escapes to the country
St. Germain Royal: pea soup made with chervil, mint, and egg. Not to be confused with the St.
Germain Royale, a cocktail made from elderflower liqueur topped with champagne.
suprême de sole au Château Yquem: filet of sole poached in Château Yquem (incredibly expensive
wine, in this case white), and covered in velouté (a velvety white sauce made from roux and
stock)
tatami: a Japanese floor mat, about 3 feet by 6 feet
tenuki: deliberately ignoring the opponent’s last move because there is a better play somewhere
else on the Go board, generally an indication that the opponent’s last move was not considered
enough of a threat to be worth responding to.
 tsuru no sugomori: “The confinement of the cranes to their nest,” a graceful maneuver in which
the enemy stones are captured.
une petite cuillère: A teaspoon. In French, the final e’s of each word are silent (“OON puhTEET
queeYAIR”), but in langue d’oc they are pronounced (“OONuh puhTEETuh queeYAIRuh”).
ursoa: ringdove, which migrates over the Basque region twice annually
uttegae: A sacrifice play, a gambit. More specifically, it refers to a player deliberately placing a
stone on the board in a game of Go with the expectation that once the opponent captures it, the
player may in turn capture several more stones of the opponent’s that he would not be able to
capture without having first made the sacrifice.
vaches de pyrénées: Pyrenees cows
Vous voyez, M’sieur, de temps en temps, la lune se trompe!: “You see, sir, from time to time, the
moon is wrong!”
washoi: a carrying chant, something between “hooray” and “heave-ho”
xahako: a goatskin bag for wine. (More commonly, “zahato.”)
xoritzo: chorizo sausage. (Correct spelling is “txorizo.”)
yojimbo: bodyguard. Also the name of a 1961 film where the title character is a wandering
samurai whom two crime lords attempt to recruit (to be a bodyguard).
yosu-miru: probe; a play made to see how the other player reacts
yukata: yukatas are similar to kimonos, except they are unlined because they are meant for wear
in the summer, and they have stiffer collars.
Zahar hitzak, zuhur hitzak: “Old words are wise words.”
Zazpiak bat: “The seven are one.”
zut: dang

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