Don't go too close to what you love

Μια μαντινάδα από την Κρήτη, που μου την πρωτοείπε ο πατέρας μου όταν ήμουν κοριτσάκι και μου την επανέλαβε τώρα που μπορούσα πια να την καταλάβω. Πάει ως εξής:

Όπου αγαπάς, μην πολυπάς

κι αν πολυπάς, μην πολυκαθίσεις

κι αν πολυκαθίσεις, μην πολυμιλήσεις

κι αν πολυμιλήσεις, κάτεε όσα λες

Αλλά όπου αγαπάς, μην πολυπάς

This is a 'mantinada' (a Cretan song) read to me by my father when I was younger. He repeated it to me recently, now that I can actually understand what it's about. In an attempt to translate it myself, I guess it would go like this:

Don't go too close to what you love

and if you do, don't stay too long

and if you stay long, don't speak a lot

and if you speak a lot, be careful what you say

But don't go too close to what you love

Keeping beloved ones a step away from you gives you the time and space you need to work around your thoughts and come up with what it is these people actually give to you; why they are important. It also gives you the chance to see if you are as important to them. Holding some thoughts for yourself and not sharing it all with the people you love can create the mystery in which love could flourish. Otherwise, if you give it all away, it becomes less rough and perhaps less fun.