Can Someone Help with a Sicilian Hand Game Possibly about a Lamb?
I recently received this question:
My grandfather used to play a hand game with me where he held my hand and with his finger made a circle in my palm, then put each of my fingers down, starting with the pinky. I can only say it phonetically as I do not speak Sicilian:
Catcja funtanedja
chifigi pecoredja
quisto lu fersja
quisto lu scorcha
quisto lu coche et
quisto lu mange
um um um um umIn English I think it said:
Here’s a little pond
The little lamb comes to drink
This one catches it
This one cuts it
This one cooks it and
This one eats it
Um um um um um.Can anyone give me the actual words in Sicilian and tell me if I am right about my English translation?
Please comment below, if you can help out…
Thanks in advance!
-Mama Lisa
October 29th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
Hello there- I have a similar question posted somewhere else in here. That posting led me to yours. A shot in the dark I took what you thought to be the English translation and stuck it into an online translator. Granted they could only translate it into Italian but this is what they gave me…
“Qui è uno stagno che piccolo l’agnello piccolo viene bere questo lo interferisce questo lo taglia questo lo cucina e questo lo mangia”
It doesn’t reflect exactly what you gave phonetically but there are some similarities. I might try taking this transaltion and a copy of your phonetic spelling and the English translation over to your local college or high school and see if you can hook up with an Italian or Latin professor who might be able to point you in the right direction. Good luck with the search-G
November 9th, 2007 at 3:57 am
I was just talking to my brother the other day about the “Sicilian hand game”, except, our Dad was born and raised near Udine, in NE Italy and spoke Furlan! It started with him making a fist and setting it down and then I would make a fist and set it on his first hand, then he would do the same to mine, finally I would round out the stack by placing my last fisted hand on his. During this time Dad would say, “Pignutte” 4 times. That is obviously my spelling…anyway, Dad would say something like, “Bors tu di bez, kikapring fravelle um bong tiron direlli. Dad told us that it meant we couldn’t talk or say even one word or laugh because if we did then he would singsong something about a lamb, and farine (flour?) and then he would pull my ear and say, “Say Baa” and he would pull my ear until I said it and then he would say something like, “ti te ti te morrar”. Unfortunately, we lost our Dad in 2001, he was almost 89 years of age. I don’t know if this helps, but, just so you know, it isn’t only Sicilian apparently. Also, as I got older, Dad told me the “old men” said it actually meant whoever “passed wind” first, (pardon me, I’d rather stick with the no talking!) Who knows, I’ve checked online dictionaries to no avail.
December 10th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
I remember my great grandmother singing me that song and tracing a circle in the palm of my hand. She was from a town called Pagino in Sicily. Phonetically it sounded like:
Funda Nella
Funda Nella
Cadja Vega io Pegudelle
If there was another part to that, I never heard it. That is the version I know. Roughly translated I was told it meant: Little fountain little fountain, this is were the lamb drinks.
Hope that helps!
December 10th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
…ACTUALLY…I just found this on an Italian site ! Is this it? It is different than I remember but this is the authentic version. I’m sure the version you and I got were somewhat altered through the years.
Fontanella bella bella
qui ci beve la pecorella
qui ci beve il maialino
qui ci beve l’uccellino
qui ci beve la sardina
le tagliamo la testina!
January 19th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
My father used to play a game with us kids, stroking our cheeking and saying the following. I can’t find the correct italian words but the sounded like this:
Mishamazoole
katamenjot
ponacas
kachew
nindachoo
jutelawat
and ended with
domasot, domasot, domasot
I would love to know what it means and if we have it correct!