Ivan Benak to je moje ime
Ivan Benak, That Is My Name
Od rođenja ponosim se njimeJa sam rođen u blizini DraveU dolini polja i livadaOkoline Podravske SlatineŠokice me porodila mladaTo je bilo trideset i trećeU mjesecu kad se žito želoDva'jst devetog a bio je petakPa sam svakom veselju početak
I've been proud of it since I was born,I was born close by the Drava's side,in the valley's fields and meadows fair,in the country round Podravska Slatina,and a young Šokica bore me there.It was in the year of thirty-three,in the month when they were reaping wheat,the twenty-ninth, and Friday was the day,and so with me all fun gets under way.
Translator's note. He was born on Friday, July 29, 1933, near Podravska Slatina. The verse appears to be the opening of a longer poem.