Liana wrote:
Dear Lisa,
My maternal grandmother was Slovak, and used to say a nursery rhyme to me in Slovak when I was a child. I came across your site trying to find the full words to this rhyme, and am wondering if you might be able to help me.
The rhyme begins with the Slovak words:
“Isli pani na hruski,” which, I think, translates roughly to “Went some women for some pears.”
Does this sound familiar to you? When my grandmother would tell me this rhyme, she would gently pinch the skin on the top of my hand to the words, in the same way you might gently squeeze each of a child’s toes when saying the words to “This Little Piggy” in English.
Please let me know if this sounds familiar to you or any of your clients, and, if not, which websites I might visit to find out more about this nursery rhyme.
Many thanks for any information you can send my way-I was so happy to stumble upon your website!
Many thanks,
Liana O.
If anyone can help out with this rhyme, please comment below.
Thanks!
Lisa
This article was posted on Tuesday, April 17th, 2007 at 5:31 pm and is filed under Countries & Cultures, Languages, Nursery Rhymes, Questions, Readers Questions, Slovak, Slovak Nursery Rhymes, Slovakia. 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.
April 23rd, 2007 at 12:35 am
Hey!! I know only isli macky na hrusky if that is what are you looking for… might be helpfull :)
Ťap, ťap ťapušky
Ťap, ťap, ťapušky,
išli mačky na hrušky,
podriapali kožúšky,
povešali na vráta,
príde drotár, popláta.
April 23rd, 2007 at 9:39 am
Thank you Katarina!
If anyone can provide an English translation, that would be great!
-Lisa
May 19th, 2007 at 9:41 am
I know this version:
Išli panie na hrušky
podriapali kožušky
povešali na vráta
popadali popadali popadali do do do bláta.
In English:
Went some women for some pears
They riped their fur coats
they hung them on the gate
They fell they fell they fell into into into the mud
July 7th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
Dear Liana and Lisa,
I know also this nursery rhyme:
Ťap, ťap, ťapušky,
išli chlapci na hrušky
a dievčatá na jabĺčka,
postretli tam pána vĺčka
a pán vĺčok hav, hav, hav,
a dievcatka jajajaj.
It can be translated as follows:
Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake,
boys went to pick up pears
and girls to pick up apples,
they met Mr Wolf there,
Mr Wolf said: woof-woof-woof,
and the girls said: Yow-yow-yow-yow.
Should you need any other help, contact me.
Martina
October 13th, 2007 at 12:04 am
Yes, this sounds familiar…could never learn it even though she tried to teach me….and the only thing I remember, though, is a “cockadoodle doo” at the end of wiggling the last finger/toe…like we do for little piggy…? So I’m assuming its a rhyme about a rooster or something….
When my grandmother would tell me this rhyme, she would gently pinch the skin on the top of my hand to the words, in the same way you might gently squeeze each of a child’s toes when saying the words to “This Little Piggy” in English.
April 13th, 2008 at 10:27 am
pani (páni) means “men/misters”
isli (išli) means “they went”
hrusky (hrušky) means “pears”
na is preposition. In this kontext used as “men went TO GATHER pears”.
April 13th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Here, there’s a longer version.
April 20th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
i remember those songs. my mom sang them to my when i was little.
September 24th, 2008 at 7:08 am
I searched for this rhym all over internet, I finally find it here. Thanks.
I used to teach this rhym 43 ago my son in Slovakia and we moved to Canada, now I want to teach my grandson, and I forgot it. Only thing I remember was the beginning : tap, tap tapusky…
December 2nd, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Bobbi wrote:
My Grandpap would sing it to me – now my daughter. I know of a song that is about a little boy trying to kiss a girl and he only had a nickel but the other had a dime…
“walked around the lake”
“asked her for a date”
“said she had no time”
Not sure how to write it in Slovak.
November 24th, 2011 at 11:31 pm
Tat, tap tapusky, isli macky na hrusky, popadali do blata podriapali kozusky, povesali na vrata, zajtra bude vyplata!
May 31st, 2018 at 9:40 pm
My grandmother sings me this rhyme. I have no idea how to spell the non-English parts, but it sounds like:
“Tomakalawada all around the lake… pitalashakasha said she had a date… kasha had a nickel, the other had a dime … pitalashakasha said she had no time … oompapa oompapa hit him on the head with a kielbasa!”
She very well could have made up the ending… She is pretty silly. We have Ukrainian heritage, and she says it is a Ukrainian song. I think it may have originally been. She told me it was about a prostitute.
This is the only place on the internet I could find it mentioned! Anyone know any more than I do?
Thank you!