Als heel de wereld eens van stokvis was
This is the Dutch version of "If All the World Were Apple-pie".
Als heel de wereld eens van stokvis was
If All the World Were Dried Fish
Nursery Rhyme
Nursery Rhyme
(Dutch)
(English)
Als heel de wereld eens van stokvis was...
En elke boom een worst.....
En iedere plas van zuiver schoensmeer......
Waarmee lest men dan de dorst?
Dat is een vraag, geachte heren
Waarover zeven jaren lang
Zeven profesoren
Gekrabt hebben achter de oren.
What if all the world were dried whitefish,
And each tree a sausage,
And every puddle made of pure shoe polish
That quenches the thirst?
That is the question, ladies and gentlemen,
Over which for seven years,
Seven professors
Have scratched behind their ears.
Notes
Joke wrote, "My mam was born in Indonesia and raised by the nurses from the salvation army in Medan. We always thought she made this up by herself, she often did with songs and stories, trying to get us kids to sleep. Guess my surprise when I visit your website and saw the rhyme in its original way."
Game Instructions
English: My mother made a knot in a handkerchief and put her finger in the knot. Then she unfolded the cloth as a mantle for her hand. For the purposes of scratching behind the ears .... she moved the knot and pretended she scratched behind the handkerchief.
Dutch: Mijn moeder deed een knoop in de zakdoek en stopte een vinger in de knoop, vouwde de doek als mantel om haar hand. Bij de zin gekrabt hebben achter de oren... bewoog ze de knoop en deed of ze achter de zakdoek krabde.
Thanks and Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Joke Brouwer for sharing this rhyme with the game instructions. Translated by Mama Lisa.
