Looking for an Old Czech Rhyme
Julie wrote:
I’m looking for the old czech rhyme/finger play ditty my grandma used to play with me. It was about an insect-spider who crawls up (your arm) finds a hole (ear) and crawls in (tickle ear). It phonectically sounds like “broczech leza pludla meza daya jerka tomza leza”.
Ideally, I would like the actual translation to English as well as the Czech words.
Thank you so much, Julie
If anyone can help, please comment below.
Thanks!
Lisa










February 3rd, 2007 at 10:50 am
I am from Czech Republic and I think that the Czech words are:
Brou?ek leze podle meze
kde je dírka tam zaleze.
In English:
A little beetle crawls along the balk
where is a whole there it crawls in.
Hana
February 3rd, 2007 at 11:42 am
In English:
A little beetle crawls along the balk
where is a little hole there it crawls in.
February 9th, 2007 at 12:33 am
Yes! That is the one. Thank you so much, Hana. You have made my day. And thank you too, Mama Lisa!
March 29th, 2007 at 10:00 pm
My great-grandmother was Czech, and when I was a child, she sang me this song/nursery rhyme all the time.
The problem is, she has passed away now, and all I can remember is what the title SOUNDED like… I was wondering if it sounded familiar?
“šlima linka”
(shleema linka)
?
If anybody could help, it would be greatly appreciated!
-Aly
March 31st, 2007 at 4:12 pm
The Czech words are:
Šla Nanynka do zelí, do zelí , do zelí
natrhala lupení, lupení?ka.
Přišel za ní Pepí?ek
rozšlapal jí koší?ek.
Ty, ty, ty, ty, ty, ty
ty to budeš platiti!
March 31st, 2007 at 9:37 pm
Thanks Hana!
If anyone can provide an English translation, that would be great! -Lisa
April 2nd, 2007 at 2:43 pm
yes, thank you so much!
I am very appreciative of this!
April 8th, 2007 at 9:14 am
An English translation is:
šla- went
Nanynka – Nancy
do zelí – to the cabbage field
natrhala – picked, plucked
lupení – leaves
přišel – came
Pepí?ek – Joe
rozšlapal – trampled (under foot)
koší?ek – a little basket
ty to budeš platiti – you will pay for it
The second strophe of this song is:
Já to platit nebudu, nebudu, nebudu
radši se dám na vojnu, na vojni?ku.
Na vojnu se nedávej, truc rodi?ům nedělej.
Udělám, udělám, na vojnu se přece dám.
In English:
I am not going to pay for it,
I will rather go to the army.
Don´t go to the army, don´t be stubborn (don´t do it against the will of your parents)
I will do it, I will do it, I will go to the army.
May 20th, 2007 at 3:50 am
Hello Mama Lisa,
I get big help from your sites to teach my boys english.
I can help with czech.
Julie asked about this I hope:
Brou?ek leze, leze
Najde dírku,
do ní vleze.
Little bug go up,up
find a hole
go in there
May 20th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
Thank you all for helping with the Czech rhyme!
If you’d ever like to send me a recording of you singing any Czech songs or rhymes that would be wonderful!
If you’d like me to post a recording of an English song or rhyme – just let me know and I’ll try to help!
June 25th, 2007 at 9:53 pm
I learned two other Czech games as a child that I would love the real words and translations for. One was about butting heads with a goat and sounded like “Beronek, beronek, beronek, duz.” The other one sounded like “mu ti ti”.
I also learned a version of the “mother mouse” game, where the mother passed out a knife, fork, and spoon. Then she sliced the porridge into pieces, by making slicing movements up the child’s arm before tickling him. Do you have the words to it?
July 6th, 2007 at 11:02 am
Máme doma berana a ten trká rohama
Berany, berany, berany duc.
there is a lot of versions of this finger play:
Vařila myši?ka kaši?ku na zeleném rendlí?ku.
tomu dala na lži?ku – she gave it on a spoon to this one
tomu dala na vidli?ku – she gave it on a fork to this one
tomu dala na talířek – she gave it on a little plate to this one
tomu dala na misti?ku – she gave it on a little bowl to this one
a na toho malého nezůstalo nic!
Tak utíkal do komůrky na homolky a tam se napapal!
Look at http://www.mamalisa.com/world/europe.html
Czech Republic – Vařila myši?ka kaši?ku
(Mother Mouse Cooked Porridge)
July 7th, 2007 at 11:36 pm
These are the words I remember! Dekuju.
September 12th, 2007 at 12:45 am
Ms. Novotny — Thank you for asking the question about the Vařila myši?ka kaši?ku finger game.
Hana — thank you so much for the response! My mother used to play the game with 4 generations of Kadlec children and I have been looking for the actual words with diatrics for several years…
Thank you both so much!
October 6th, 2007 at 9:21 pm
Oh my gosh. Those are the words. I just connected the “tomu dala” words and the mouse/porridge idea. Thank you for your help. This is the right one. I just had the beginning of the rhyme wrong. Wow. My aunt will love to see this.
Thanks again.
March 18th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
My Mom used to say it all the time and I would love to pass on that poem. She can’t remember all of it. I always thought it was she gave this one some, this one some and this one some, and the last one got none or nitz in Czech. Then you tickle the little child under the arm. I hve tried to find this for so many years. I’m also looking for the full version of Happy Birthday in Czech. Can anyone help me? My mother was a Pavelka from Nebraska.
May 12th, 2008 at 8:12 am
I heard the same version as you where she gave this one some, this one some, and the other none.
May 13th, 2008 at 5:50 am
I can’t believe finding this site via a Czech reply on a Trip Advisor forum – I was seaching for the do zelí rhyme BUT in reading this page I realise that my mother used the Varila myšicka kašicku rhyme too. Sadly my parents could see no point in teaching me Czech in 50’s London where I was born (they used it to talk when I wasn’t supposed to understand & when I apparently said ‘I know what you’re saying’ they stopped). Tragic – the music of the language & various exclamations [Ježís marja!] & ‘bad words’ are totally familiar; I am writing a ‘book’ & so all this has been very helpful. Dík :)
June 2nd, 2008 at 5:16 am
Joan,
I think, that in Czech you can sing Happy Birthday:
Hodně štěstí , zdraví
Hodně štěstí, zdraví
Hodně štěstí, Joan,
Hodně štěstí , zdraví!
October 25th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
I am looking for the words to a rhyme that my Mother and Grandmother used to do. It was a type of finger rhyme where they would say words, tug on my fingers, and at the end, they would pinch my palm. The words went something like:
Bajay del sicso rah, pincse…..
And I am also looking for the lyrics to the rocking chair song that goes Ho, Ho, grava do, meso nico….
Thanks for you time. I appreciate your help!
November 10th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Unfortunately I can’t help with the first one, but the second goes this way:
Hou, hou, krávy jdou, nesou mlíčko pod vodou;
kde je ta jalovička? U božího kostelíčka.
Kostelíček hoří, stodola se boří,
skoč má milá do vody, pro ty černé jahody.
Proč já bych tam skákala, sukýnky si máchala,
kde bych si je usušila? U pana Víta.
Pan Vít není doma, jel do Berouna,
pro štyry ovce, pro pátýho berana, s velikejma rohama.
Have a nice day!
Tereza
November 10th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Thanks Tereza! Would you (or anyone else) be able to provide an English translation?
Thanks in advance!
Mama Lisa
November 11th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
Thank you so much Tereza! I appreciate your help. My Mother passed away two years ago and I have fond memories of her rocking my son singing bits and pieces of that song. Thank you! :-)