Heile, heile Gänschen
"A get well song my mum and grandma used to sing to me as a little girl. The lyrics are a bit nonsensical, but it's a children's song, so hey! It's a bit like a magic spell/blessing." - Stardustfreckle (YouTube)
Heile, heile Gänschen
Heal, Heal Little Gosling
Finger Play
Finger Play
(German Dialect)
(English)
Heile, heile Gänschen
Es is bald widder gut,
Es Kätzjen hat e Schwänzje
Es is bald widder gut,
Heile heile Mausespeck
In hunnerd Jahr is alles weg.
Heal, heal little gosling,
You'll soon be well again,
The little kitten has a little tail
You'll soon be well again,
Heal, heal marshmallows
In a hundred years everything will be gone.
Notes
This song can be found in print as early as 1894. A later version called "Heile, heile Gänsje" was written as a Carnival song in 1929 by Martin Mundo.
Comments
This isn't standard German, it must be Hessian. It seems to have originated in the area where it was later used as a chorus, i.e. Mainz near Frankfurt am Main. In standard German, "widder" is "wieder", there's no "e" as an article, "Kätzjen" is "Kätzchen" –there's no "–je" diminutive form, and 100 is "hundert" not "hunnerd".
Thanks!
