Snail! Snail! Come Out'n o' Yō' Shell
Snail! Snail! Come Out'n o' Yō' Shell
Snail! Snail! Come Out of Your Shell
Nursery Rhyme
Nursery Rhyme
(Historical Black American English)
(English)
Snail! Snail! Come out'n o' yō' shell,
Or I'll beat on yō' back till you rings lak a bell.
"I do ve'y well," sayed de snail in de shell,
"I'll jes take my chances in here whar I dwell."
Snail! Snail! Come out of* your shell,
Or I'll beat on your back till you ring like a bell.
"I do very well," said the snail in the shell,
"I'll just take my chances in here where I dwell."
Notes
*Note on the translation of out of:
out'n = out of
o' = of
So the original phrase out'n o' has two words meaning "of" in it. I left one out.
Thanks and Acknowledgements
This rhyme can be found in Negro Folk Rhymes, Wise and Otherwise, with a Study by Thomas W. Talley of Fisk University (1922).
Standard English version by Lisa Yannucci.
Illustration by Monique Palomares.
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