Kari wrote:
Do you know the Polish song I think goes, mischka mischka mischka timidowa?
It was told to kids by holding their hand and making circles on their palm, then squeezing their fingers and then going up their arms saying something like poli vally Vicki.
Any help would be great to know what the song is and what it means.
Thanks
Kari Koenig
If anyone can help Kari with the original lyrics and/or a translation, please let us know in the comments below.
Thanks!
Mama Lisa
This article was posted on Sunday, March 28th, 2010 at 8:32 pm and is filed under Children's Songs, Countries & Cultures, Languages, Mama Lisa, Poland, Polish, Polish Kids Songs, Questions, Readers Questions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
31 Responses to “Can Anyone Help with a Polish Song that Sounds Like, “Mischka mischka mischka”?”
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March 29th, 2010 at 5:30 am
Hi!
It doesn’t sound like Polish. It must be Russian. Mischka in Russian means little bear. Although I speak Russian I don’t know this song.
March 29th, 2010 at 9:42 am
According to Wikipedia”
Olga said on Yahoo:
However, I also found a book on Amazon in German called Mischka, der Bär (Mischka the Bear). So Mischka may have “”traveled” to other countries.
April 15th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
Hi, Mishka means teddy bear in Polish. It sounds very similar to:
Round and round the garden
Like a teddy bear,
One step, Two steps
Tickle you under there
Which is the English song version.
April 22nd, 2010 at 3:52 pm
My mom who passed, always played a hand game with the kids where she would hold their palm upward, make little circles on it and then skurry up the arm with her fingers in a tickling motion. While she did this she said,
(forgive the spelling or lack of)
Keez a la Mizala
A bish garborzala mizala….
all the way to (said the child’s name)
(I thought it had yiddish origins – if anyone has info – please pass it on… thanks
May 7th, 2010 at 5:56 pm
I know exactly what you are talking about although there is no Mischka here but Kaszka (semolina)
Here it goes:
Tu tu tu sroczka kaszke warzyla, dzieci swoje karmila
jednemu dala na lyzeczke
drugiemu dala na miseczke
trzeciemu dala do kubeczka
czwartemu dala z wiadereczka
piatemu nic nie dala
i frrr….r poleciala!
it loosley translates into:
A little magpie was feeding some semolina to her children,( you open a child palm and make circles with your finger)
The first one got it from a spoon (you point to child’s thumb)
The second one got it from a bowl (point to the index finger)
The third one got it from a mug (point to the middle finger)
The fourth one got it from a bucket (point to the wedding finger)
The fith one got nothing (you gently pretend to be pulling that finger out before moving your hand away making a circle in the air and quickly returning your hand to walk it up the child’s arm and tickling them before finishing off with:
Frrrr and then she flew away!
This little ‘poem’ does not really rhyme when translated straight into English although it does in Polish. Please note that not all characters have displayed here in Polish.
Hope This helps.
May 15th, 2011 at 1:10 pm
Our grandma did that with us. It was something like
(while making circles on our palms)
“Kasha y Mischka pok pok pok” (with each pok she tapped our palm
“gotowana kluski pok pok pok” (were cooking noodles)
(the next lines were pinching the tips our finger tips I don’t remember the whole phrase but it was something to do with głowę. My grandma said it means off with your head for the first four fingers and the last one is something like, your head can stay on)
(then when she would go from our hand to the crook of our elbow)
“do (something that sounded like peench) do domu” (home)
and then we got tickled.
It seems as though there are dozens of variations of these gestures with different words.
January 16th, 2012 at 10:26 am
I am not sure if this is the one you were looking for, but it came to my mind
as the first idea- it is about how very important thing is to have healthy teeth!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eG9yWe1eoc
Szczotka pasta,kubek,ciepła woda
tak się zaczyna wielka przygoda
myje zęby,bo wiem dobrze o tym
kto ich nie myje ten ma kłopoty…
Żeby zdrowe zęby mieć,trzeba tylko chcieć.
Szczotko,Szczotko,
hej szczoteczko o!o!o!
Zatańcz ze mną tańcz w kółeczko.o!o!o!
W prawo,w lewo, w lewo,w prawo.
o!o!o!Po jedzeniu kręć się żwawo.o!o!o!
W prawo,w lewo, w lewo,w prawo.o!o!o!
Po jedzeniu kręć się żwawo.o!o!o!
Bo to bardzo ważna rzecz żeby zdrowe zęby mieć!
July 22nd, 2012 at 9:24 pm
My polish grandma used to do this all the time with us, but I think she forgot the words because she used to say:
Timodowa, timodowa, timodowa, timodowa, negelacki, negelacki (circles in the palm)…oh! Powichowa!
I’m sure my spelling sucks. But that’s what it sounded like.
July 25th, 2012 at 4:28 pm
My father used to play a hand game very similar to all the ones mentioned above except this one was about a mother bird who bit the heads off her little bird children and they all flew to heaven. It started with
“Tu, tu, tu, tu (something something something)”. Then he’d tap his finger in my palm and say, “Timodowa, timodowa, timo?webeckudvawa, ee-sama few dyah-neba.” I’m pretty sure that last part is supposed to be “they flew to heaven”. I only have one Polish relative left and he’s 99 years old and in a nursing home so I have no one who remembers this nursery rhyme. I would sooooo love to know the correct words. Can anyone help?
November 29th, 2012 at 6:51 pm
The first request fingerplay might be Russian but it can also be the Polish one mentioned by many below (just the words might be mixed up and not remembered well). This rhyme has got many versions depending on the region of Poland that’s why the words you remember are different. It’s all about the
Magpie and you can find this rhyme among the basic polish rhymes on the main page.
it goes like this in Polish alphabet: (and how you read it)
tu tu tu sroczka kaszeczke wazyla (tu tu tu srochka kashechke vazhywa)
temu dala na lyzeczke (temu dawa na wyzhechke)
temu dala na miseczke (temu dawa na meesechke)
temu dala do kubeczka (temu dawa do qubechka)
temu dala z wiadereczka (temu dawa s vyaderechka)
temu nic nie dala (temu nitz nye dawa)
i frrr….r poleciala… (i frrr poletzyawa)
It means: Here, here, here megpie was weighing grain
To this one she gave [some] on a spoon
To the other on bowl
To this one in a cup
To this one in a bucket
To this one she gave none
and frrr…she flew away
December 29th, 2012 at 6:46 pm
Oh my goodness! My grandma (who was Polish) used to tell me this rhyme when I was very young and used to crawl into bed in the early morning! I still remember her explaining the rhyme to me, but she said that the bird that didn’t get anything went to heaven.
May 9th, 2013 at 7:21 pm
Yolanda wrote:
“Hi
I am thinking about a game my Dad used to play with us when we were small..it is the one you describe but I can not even spell the words he used to say because it all used to disappear in a kind of gobbledegook as his hand went up to the neck..
It went like this:
‘meezhali maazhali meezhali maazhili'” etc etc until the last few words which were undecipherable but there was something like ‘a terra GOOP ti li ……….????’
I got the impression it was Polish or Yiddish.”
If anyone can help with this rhyme, please let us know in the comments below. Thanks! -Lisa
February 1st, 2015 at 9:16 pm
I called my 95 year old Yiddish polish Russian bubby to get the answer;)
patche payche kichalach
die mame (vet) keifen shichalach
die pape (vet) bringen zekalach
zein gezunt die bekalach!!!
February 24th, 2015 at 2:58 pm
My Polish great grandmother used to do this:
I would hold my hand out. She would take her finger and make circles in the palm of my hand. I think it was a song about a mouse. I remember these words “Timodowa, timodowa, yoshi, yoshi” and then at the end she would say “balla balla bing” and touch my nose!
October 31st, 2015 at 12:54 am
Theres a nursery rhyme in polish that involves finger play. You basically go around the palm of the child’s hand and say something like
Smazua mushka smazuz mushka….then fold the pinky finger down to the palm with a polish verse ..then ring finger down with polish verse and so forth til you reach the thumb…and then it basically twists the thumbs and translates to something like rip the head off and throw it away…and both hands go in the air saying ” y nie me” (and no more) ive been searching for days please does anyone know what rhyme this could be.
November 26th, 2015 at 7:26 am
What I remember from my Mom (& I taught my 4 grandchildren) is not a song as such :)~~ child sits on your lap facing you & you take their hands & rub their cheeks saying: Kysziu myziu (can say a few times), Gdziesz ty była ? ~ W komurecze mleczko pilam ~ then raising your hands in question you ask: A czemu zesz mi nie zostawila ? then you gently pat their cheeks & say : A pszik, a pszik a pszik :) & the child laughs saying “Again Again” & then you have them do it to you <3
Christine :)
I can speak Polish much better than write it :)
November 12th, 2017 at 5:00 pm
Its Myszka, not Mischka and that us part of the confusion here. Mysz is mouse. Myszka is little guy/mouse.
And that is what my mom understands it to mean. There truly is a lot of cultural blending and language dilution leading to many variances. However, my mom is 67 and grew up speaking polish and did this to me as a kid. Luckily shes still alive today and she can recite just about all of it. Id like to get all of it recorded and written so i could share.
Hope this helps a little.
Again… Myszka not Mischka
November 13th, 2017 at 1:21 pm
Thanks for your help Kevin! We’d love to post a recording of this song if you’d like to share one! :) -Mama Lisa
February 6th, 2018 at 12:26 am
My mother did a similar game where she held our hand and made circles in our palm with her finger. Then she would pinch the end of each finger and then run up the arm to tickle. I’ve been trying to figure out the words but have only found some of them. Something about a mouse and cat I think. Please let me know if you’ve heard of this. I’ve played this with my children and now my grandchildren and would really like to know the translation. Don’t know what vazny, koopky, or letchy means or if they are spelled correctly. Thanks!
Myszka vazny koopky
Myszka vazny koopky
Jeden (1)
Dwa (2)
Trzy (3)
Cztery (4)
Piec (5)
letchy letchy letchy letchy
June 28th, 2018 at 2:16 am
I am trying to find an English and Polish translation for what my mom used to say when she would count my children’s toes. I apologize for the terrible spelling but I tried to write it phonetically.
Have you ever heard anything like it?
Thanks for your help with this.
Rubbing the foot says:
Schrotchka, schrotchka, schrotchka;
Je te be wesh
Jesh ke kasco dowum!
Then touching each toe says:
Temu dowum, Temu dowum, Temu dowum, Temu dowum, Temu dowum!
Rubbing the foot again says:
Al te mal cheen
Je te be wesh
Tobya foot, tobya foot,
Foot a, foot a, foot a!
June 28th, 2018 at 11:46 am
Hi Marlene,
It seems like it’s a version of Tu sroczka kaszke warzyla (Here Magpie Cooked Her Porridge).
Does it sound like that?
Mama Lisa
December 2nd, 2018 at 9:59 pm
Could not resist giving my proposition – quite probable, I think… So, IMHO the nearest to
‘mischka mischka mischka timidowa (…) poli vally Vicki’ would be:
MYSZKA MAŁA, MYSZKA BIAŁA,
do komina uciekała,
a ja za nią po drabinie,
moja myszka już w kominie!
You can listen to it by clicking on the speaker icon on the left side:
https://translate.google.com/#view=home&op=translate&sl=pl&tl=en&text=MYSZKA%20MA%C5%81A%2C%20MYSZKA%20BIA%C5%81A%2Cdo%20komina%20ucieka%C5%82a%2Ca%20ja%20za%20ni%C4%85%20po%20drabinie%2Cmoja%20myszka%20ju%C5%BC%20w%20kominie!
January 3rd, 2019 at 3:15 pm
My Ukrainian Baba used to sing a similar song to me – I have having my first grandbaby this spring and was trying to remember all of the word. It was Mischka, Mischka but she would do the tickles. I loved the song! There was another song she sang where we raised our hands at the end and said Hiho – I am racking my brain trying to remember that one!!
February 19th, 2019 at 11:22 pm
My Polish grandmother would sing a song similar to this to us…and it involved the hands. But I remember her gently pinching the tops of my hands while she sang. Definitely something like “Mischka, Mischka…” with pinches and tickles!
May 11th, 2019 at 5:09 pm
My Polish mother used to sing a song like that to me. I thought she was saying “Misha” but “Mischka” would work as well. Her version involved rubbing the child’s cheeks and translated as “Mischka, Mischka, where have you been? [Something something] drinking milk.” Then the cheeks would be gently tapped while the grownup said something that sounded like “Hopczi, hopczi, hopczi!” I wish I had more detail. I loved the song when I was little. There was another song — a lullaby– that she later sang to my daughter, which went something (in English) like “Aaah, aaah, two kittens, one black, one brown, the two of them.”
May 11th, 2019 at 5:14 pm
P.S. And I just found the song about the two kittens on this very website! Thank you — I’ve been looking for it for years! https://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=668
September 29th, 2020 at 1:41 am
The nursery rhyme that I recall has many of the same attributes that have been noted above, like the making of circles in the palms, and grabbing the tip of each finger and then running your hand up the child’s arm while tickling. All the “old folks” are gone, so I am only working from my memory. The English translation that I recall of the rhyme is:
Little mice, where have you been? (Making circles on palm of child’s hand)
To see mother. She gave us milk. (Making circles on palm of child’s hand)
She gave some to this one. (Touch tip of little finger)
She gave some to this one. (Touch tip of ring finger)
She gave some to this one. (Touch tip of middle finger)
She gave some to this one. (Touch tip of index finger)
And she ripped the head off this one ! (Touch thumb and then tickle arm all the way to shoulder)
Anybody recall this one ??
March 2nd, 2021 at 10:44 pm
Right, so I’m Polish and I also know Russian: Mishka in Russian is a little Michael, in Polish we’ve got a word Myszka which means a little mouse, but the nursery rhyme you refer to sounds like “ Tu, tu sroczka kaszke wazyla, tu tu sobie ogonek spazyla…” and then go on with the fingers as described in comments above “ temu dala na lyzeczke, temu dala na miseczke etc.”
March 31st, 2021 at 4:59 pm
My polish grandma would do that exact same thing, but she said in english:
“around the mill around the mill went the little mousy, up the hill up the hill in to (child’s name) housey” while circling my palm and then going up to tickle me under my arm. She was first generation grew up speaking polish and English.
I feel like there’s many different versions of this but the idea is the same and it’s very sweet to remember.
January 31st, 2024 at 2:49 am
hi! My goodgranmother used to sing this “lullaby” to me when I was a kid, and ever since she left I’ve been searching for it to remember it again! Her daughter – whose is my granny – tried to sing it but she misses some of the words and mess up some pronunciation…
Well is good to see that other people have some good childhood memories with that little lullaby just like me! The tradition is never gonna be messing and thats awesome.
My granny and her mom used to take my hand and rub her finger in circles on the palm of my hand, while singing de song of course, then they would tickle the tip of my thumb to the top of my underarm. They would keep saying the word “myszka”, but I cant remember the rest of that.
February 13th, 2024 at 12:26 am
This is old but saw so many incorrect comments that I had to share. It’s about a cat and mouse and was said when a child would get hurt-needed to learn a lesson. For phonetics I’ll try my best: Jebi miska neski kowi tobi nogi nez wi mowi ala miska hulu hulu toz wo bili sub yi bulu