Can Someone Help with an Old German Nursery Rhyme?
I received this email today:
I’m wondering if you have info on an old German nursery rhyme? We just returned from a trip to Germany with my elderly mother (American, but German parents), who asked many people about it. Almost everyone knew of it, but no one could remember the words, most of them stopping, humorously enough, in the same place as my mother’s memory did, knowing only the first few lines.
It’s something about a cat sitting behind a warm stove, cleaning its face. My mother wrote down the first few lines, perhaps more phonetically than correctly, as follows:
Bitcha, batcha, beta
Hintern offen stehterSchmickt sein steuffli
Schmicht sein shuAny way of getting the complete and correct version of the words?
Thanks,
BGB
If anyone can help out with this nursery rhyme, please comment below or email me.
Thanks!
Lisa
June 30th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
Hi BGB, hi all,hi Lisa,
Know this one, goes like this:
Pitsche Patsche Peter
pitcha patcha Peter
(pitcha patcha being fillers)
hinterm Ofen steht er
behind the oven he is standing
flickt sein Schuh und schmiert sein Schuh
mends his shoe and greases his shoe
kommt die alte Katz dazu
the old cat joins him
frisst den Schuh und frisst den Schmer*
eats the shoe and eats the ‘grease’
frisst mir alle Teller leer.
eats everything from the plates.
Sung to the rhythm of ‘Bake, bake a cake’
*Schmer being the pork’s hide that’s on bacon.
T’was used to make the shoes shiny,and was also
used on easter eggs for the same purpose.
cheers
Matthew
PS:My english isn’t that good – anyone feel free to
correct any translation errors.
PPS: Lisa, still haven’t got time to tab out ‘I’ll Tell Me Ma’
workin’ on it …
June 30th, 2007 at 4:12 pm
UPDATE:
There seem to be 1000’s of variations ….
According to your phonetics the 3rd line should read:
flickt sein Stiefel, schmiert sein Schuh
mends his boot and greases his shoe …
cheers
June 30th, 2007 at 9:11 pm
Thanks Matthew!
Here’s the tune for ‘Bake, bake a cake’
Cheers!
Mama Lisa
August 5th, 2007 at 4:31 pm
Thanks to Matthew and Lisa for helping with my question! I’m passing the info on to my mother, too (including the tune). BGB
December 4th, 2007 at 8:46 pm
Good responses, thanks!
November 26th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
My mother used to say a nursery rhyme that started out, Su Bett, su Bett ____________________aus su Bett. I can’t remember the middle, does someone know what this might be?
October 14th, 2009 at 12:30 am
Zu Bett, zu Bett, zu Bette geh’n,
Und morgen wieder frueh auf steh’n,
zu Bett, zu Bett, zu Bett!
To bed, to bed, to bed (you) go,
And tomorrow get up early again,
To bed, to bed, to bed!