This article introduces the main features of the art of Azerbaijani ashik (asiq) and also presents the life and a selection of the poetry of Ashik Basti (1836-1936), an outstanding female ashik of Azerbaijan during the nineteenth century. The art of ashik is a genre of Turkic folklore common to Central Asia and especially in Azerbaijan. It takes the form of the oral performance of mostly love narratives and sometimes epic stories accompanied mainly by the saz, a slender-necked lute, alongside other musical instruments. The Azerbaijani ashik, who combines the skills of a singer, dancer, storyteller, poet, word-master and actor, has been the key carrier of the ancient musical traditions of Azerbaijan throughout history. Ashik Basti’s “Basti and Khanchoban”, an epic literary-musical composition known as the dastan, is presented for the first time here in English translation. The phonic beauty of Ashik Basti’s poems is sadly lost in translation but the close literal renditions reveal the resounding cry of the pain of tragic love.

中文翻译：

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阿西克·巴斯蒂（Ashik Basti）

本文介绍了阿塞拜疆ashik（asiq）艺术的主要特征，并介绍了十九世纪阿塞拜疆杰出的女性ashik Ashik Basti（1836-1936）的生平和选集。ashik的艺术是中亚（尤其是阿塞拜疆）常见的突厥民俗类型。它采取的形式是大多数爱情叙事的口头表演，有时还有史诗般的故事，主要伴随着萨兹，细长颈的琵琶以及其他乐器。融合了歌手，舞蹈家，讲故事的人，诗人，词大师和演员的技能的阿塞拜疆ashik一直是阿塞拜疆古代音乐传统的主要载体。Ashik Basti的“ Basti and Khanchoban”，史诗般的文学音乐作品，被称为dastan，在这里首次以英文翻译呈现。可悲的是，Ashik Basti诗歌的语音美在翻译中迷失了，但是近乎直截了当的文字表达揭示了悲惨的爱情之痛的回响。