Jenny Van Ryswyk wrote to me asking for help with a Dutch poem from the Netherlands about a mouse and beans. Here’s her letter:
Thank you for the site. It brings many of the children’s poems to life with a clearer understanding. My parents are from Friesland and my husband’s parents from Groningen and Rotterdam (dad).
My Mom is 86 and she is reciting a poem about a mouse cooked in a pot of beans. She said it was a poem in the Netherlands and I didn’t know if a relative made it up or if it’s well known.
My father’s mother was blind and Mom tells me that she remembers being there as a guest on Sunday and finding a mouse cooked in the beans. She had just been dating Dad for a short time, so she felt a little embarrassed to say anything, but she was horrified none-the-less.
Do you have anyone who might be able to fill in the words for this poem?
This is what I have so far. She couldn’t recall all of it.
“Aacht morselbel ham Kleine Piet
in kost en als et kind de smidags aangesaten
de fieze bysmaak van
har knusels wet gewaten
in was altight leker tante
wat zal it zyn
…. Met te war groen eete vraegt
heer van kreeg Kleine Piet
een find twee achter poeten van de arme kickfors under ‘t warmoos cord gehacht
and lecht met de ogen half gesloten zyn ate fork neer ter wel hij vraagt
heft moeder was aacht oek foetjes aan gebrand
Thank you.
Jenny Van Ryswyk
If anyone can help Jenny with the original version of the rhyme and/or a translation, please let us know in the comments below.
Thanks!
Mama Lisa
This article was posted on Monday, April 23rd, 2012 at 3:52 pm and is filed under Countries & Cultures, Dutch, Languages, Netherlands, Nursery Rhymes, Poems, Poetry, 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.
5 Responses to “Can Anyone Help with a Dutch Rhyme about a Mouse Cooked in Beans?”
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April 27th, 2012 at 5:28 pm
Hello Jenny,
The poem you refer to is one I learned in school, about 50 years ago. It is in fact a funny story.
I give you the original text, but it is too difficult to translate because it is written in olddutch. So instead, I made a transcription. This way you know what the story is about.
It was written by A.C.W. Staring, who lived from 1767 till 1840. He is a famous dutch poet from the romantic period, but because of the oldfashioned language, not very popular nowadays.
Aagt Morsebel nam kleinen Piet
In kost, en als het kind, te middag aangezeten,
Haar soms zijn walging merken liet:
De vieze bijsmaak van heur knoeisels werd geweten,
Aan kaarsvet, roet, noch snuif; ‘t was altoos : “Lekkertand,
Wat zou’ het zijn, als aangebrand?”
Nu kwam er eens een schotelvol groen eten
Te voorschijn, die Kok Aagt spinazie had geheten:
Hiervan kreeg kleine Piet zijn deel op ‘t bord gesmakt;
Hij roert er in; hij vindt twee achterpooten
Van d’ armen kikvorsch, onder ‘t warmoes kort gehakt,
En legt, met de oogen half gesloten,
Zijn eetvork neer, tenvijl hij vraagt:
“Heeft aangebrand ook voetjes, moeder Aagt?”
The story is about a little boy (kleinen Piet) who lives with Aagt Morsebel.
Morsebel is a name for someone who is very sloppy and dirty.
She can’t cook and the food is always terrible. The boy is disgusted by her meals, they taste like candles, grease or tabocco. She accusses him of being a finetooth (lekkertand) and claims that it would be worse if it was burned.
Then one day he has to eat something very green, which she calls spinach. He stirrs it and fins two chopped froglegs in the vegetables. (warmoes = beet)
He closes his eyes, puts down his fork and asks: Does burned also have feet, mother Aagt?
best regards, Marleen
August 30th, 2012 at 1:39 am
I saw the question on the front page.. Born in ’73.. I never heard of it, but I lóve the sheer cheekiness..
I see a small miss-spelling at the end of the message
‘He stirrs (fiddles) it and FINDS two chopped up froglegs in the vegetables.’
Thanx for your great site! Love it!!
Love and Light,
another Marleen XD
February 16th, 2017 at 12:03 am
Hi Mama Lisa,
Great website! As a fourth generation American, much of my Dutch roots have been lost. However I remember as a child my parents saying a few nursery rhymes in what they thought was Dutch. I’m sure that the pronunciation of them got butchered more and more with each generation.
I saw one of them on here which was interesting to see (Naar bed, naar bed, zei Duimelot..) Another started with what I believe are non-sense words “kribalty krobulty” and ended with the “kleine (child’s name) de kopen’. Not knowing any Dutch, it’s difficult to understand what this one was about, but the reciting of it was accompanied by the hand of the teller ‘crawling’ like a spider toward the child until at the last part mom or dad would tickle us.
This probably isn’t much to go on, and who knows how much was made up over the years.
Cheers!
Mark
April 26th, 2018 at 2:31 am
Thanks so much for these responses. I am happy to say that Mom is now 92 years old. I will print the poem and let her read it. So nice to know that someone helped me find the words. She is coming out with poems that I do not ever remember from previous years of sitting with her. I think that the mind goes back to childhood when in a long term care facility. She has some dementia but it is delightful to hear the recitations she recalls.
Thanks for this website. I love looking through it.
Jenny
November 7th, 2018 at 9:45 am
Mark I think you mean a small rhyme which we still play with small children upto about 4 years old. Kriebeltje krabbeltje komt gelopen, vlug in Mark´s halsje gekropen.
(Tickling, scratching it comes walking, quicly in Marks neck crawling)
now a days usually we say Komt een muisje aangelopen, zomaar in Mark´s nekje gekropen. (a little mouse comes walking, it has just crawled in Mark´s little neck) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MwPobUTh0U