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Bovo-Bukh

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Bovo-Bukh
Title page of Bovo-Bukh, circa 1541
AuthorElia Levita
Original titleבָּבָא דְאַנְטוֹנָא
LanguageYiddish
GenreChivalric romance
Publication date
1541
Publication placePapal States

The Bovo-Bukh ("Bovo book", Yiddish: בָּבָא-בּוּך, בּאָבאָ-בּוּך‎, German transliteration: Baba Buch), also known as Bovo of Antona (בָּבָא דְאַנְטוּנָא‎[spelling?], German transliteration: Baba de Antona) is a Yiddish chivalric romance story. It was written in 1507–1508 by Elia Levita and was put into print in 1541. To some it is "regarded as the most outstanding poetic work in Old Yiddish."[1]

Plot summary[edit]

The story is derived from the Anglo-Norman romance of Bevis of Hampton, by way of an Italian poem that had modified the name Bevis of Hampton to Buovo d'Antona. The central theme is the love of Bovo and Druziane.[1][2] While the story "had no basis in Jewish reality," it is distinguished from other chivalric romances by more muted Christian symbols and the inclusion of Jewish customs.[1]

The Bovo-Bukh became known in the late 18th century as Bove-mayse (lit.Bove's tale"). This name later became bube mayse (lit.grandmother's tale), meaning "old wives' tale".[1]

Bovo's young mother conspires to have her husband, an aged king, killed during a hunt, then marries his murderer. They then try yet fail, to poison Bovo, who they fear would go on to avenge his father. The handsome youth runs away from Antona, but is kidnapped and taken to Flanders to be stable boy to a king, whose daughter Druzane falls in love with him.

The heathen sultan of Babylonia then arrives with an army of ten thousand warriors, demanding Druzane’s hand in marriage for his ugly son Lucifer, which is refused. In the ensuing war, the king of Flanders is captured. Yet Bovo, riding the magic horse Pumele and wielding the magic sword Rundele, manages to defeat the sultan's army. He slays Lucifer, frees the king, and is promised the hand of Druzane. However he is enticed to Babylonia, where he is horribly imprisoned for a year until he escapes. Meanwhile in Flanders, Druzane presumes him dead and consents to a knight by the name Macabron.

On the wedding day of Druzane and Macabron, Bovo arrives disguised as a beggar and he and Druzane manage to flee, first to a palace but later into the forest, in constant pursuit from Macabron. Deep in the forest, Druzane gives birth to twins.

Bovo sets off to find a route back to Flanders. Druzane, presuming Bovo dead, sets off with the twins and successfully reaches Flanders, believing Bovo to have fallen prey to a lion. Bovo returns to their forest abode but fails to find them, assuming that they are lost. Despairing, he joins an army against his native Antona. He kills his stepfather, sends his mother to a nunnery, and claims his rightful crown. Eventually, he is reunited with Druzane, who becomes his queen.

Modern editions[edit]

  • Elia Levita Bachur's Bovo-Buch: A Translation of the Old Yiddish Edition of 1541 with Introduction and Notes by Elia Levita Bachur, translated and notes by Jerry C. Smith, Fenestra Books, 2003, ISBN 1-58736-160-4.

Original Yiddish editions online[edit]

Modern facsimile edition by Judah A. Joffe of Bovo Bukh at Open Library and a modern Yiddish translation in verse by M. Knapheis Bovo Bukh at Open Library

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Liptzin, Solomon (1972). A history of Yiddish literature. Middle Village, N.Y: J. David. ISBN 978-0-8246-0124-9.
  2. ^ "BABA BUCH - JewishEncyclopedia.com". jewishencyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2024-06-12.
  • Claudia Rosenzweig, Bovo d’Antona by Elye Bokher. A Yiddish Romance - A Critical Edition with Commentary, SJHC vol. 49, Brill, 2015, ISBN 9789004306844
  • Gottheil, Richard and Jacobs, Joseph Baba Buch, Jewish Encyclopedia, 1901–1906
  • Liptzin, Sol, A History of Yiddish Literature, Jonathan David Publishers, Middle Village, NY, 1972, ISBN 0-8246-0124-6
  • Shmeruk, Chone, "Prokim fun der yidisher literatur-geshikhte”, Peretz Farlag, Tel-Aviv 1988 (in Yiddish)
  • Wex, Michael, Born to Kvetch, St. Martin's Press, 2005. ISBN 0-312-30741-1
  • Claudia Rosenzweig, Il Bovo de-Antona di Elia Bachur Levita e le sue fonti, Tesi Università degli studi di Milano, 1994/95, rel. M. L. Modena Mayer, 291 p.
  • Claudia Rosenzweig, "La letteratura yiddish in Italia : l'esempio del Bovo de-Antona di Elye Bocher", ACME - Annali della Facoltà di lettere e filosofia dell'Università degli Studi di Milano, vol. 50, fasc. 3, 1997, p. 159-189.
  • Claudia Rosenzweig, "Il poema yiddish in versi Bovo d'Antona in una versione manoscritta del XVI sec.", Medioevo Romanzo, vol. XXVI, fasc. I, gennaio-aprile 2002, pp. 49–68.
  • Claudia Rosenzweig, "Kurtsvaylike Literatur. Il Bovo d’Antona e il romanzo cavalleresco in yiddish nell’Italia del Rinascimento", in: C. Rosenzweig, A.L. Callow, V. Brugnatelli, F. Aspesi (a cura di), Florilegio filologico e linguistico. Haninura de Bon Siman a Maria Luisa Mayer Modena, Milano, Cisalpino, 2008 ISBN 978-88-323-6098-1, p. 169-188.
  • Claudia Rosenzweig, "From the Square and the Court to the Private Space. Some Remarks on the Yiddish Version of the Chivalric Poem Bovo d’Antona", Zutot 5.1 (2008), pp. 53–62.
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