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
This article was posted on Saturday, January 20th, 2007 at 8:19 pm and is filed under Countries & Cultures, Czech, Czech Republic, Finger Plays, Languages, Nursery Rhymes, Questions, Readers 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.
September 16th, 2012 at 10:39 am
Hi! I realize this is a really old thread, but I have been searching all over for an answer to a question. When I was a little girl, my mother would tap a rhyme on my palm. It was essentially like “This Little Piggy,” but it was about these little chickens eating, and at the end, the one flies away. My grandmother died a few years ago, and my mother makes up the words toward the end. I know virtually no Czech, but it’s killing me to know.
Thanks!
March 18th, 2013 at 6:03 pm
Hi, I would like to get back to what Cindy wrote on January 16th, 2011 and to Hana´s answer. I think I found a version closer to the original that Cindy recalled. This is how it goes:
Vařila vařila myška hrášek
Spálila ho na prášek
Ten vařil (squeezing the first finger of a child)
Ten smažil
Ten pekl
Ten jedl
Na toho se nedostalo
Tak myška běžela, běžela,
Až se tady schovala
A mouse cooked peas
She burned it to the powder
This one cooked it
This one fried it
This one baked it
This one ate it
For this one, nothing was left
So the mouse ran, ran
Until he hid himself here
I must say that this discussion is very interesting for me. I am Czech and I think I know many traditional nursery rhymes, but it seems that only some have survived in our country to this day while many were forgotten and are not actively used by parents any more. Yet they were preserved overseas, in the memories of you who heard them from your ancestors so long ago, and we can actually learn them back from you now! For example, I have never heard “A little beetle crawls along the balk…”. I am sure some Czechs know it, but my parents and grandparents never played this one with me.
March 18th, 2013 at 6:35 pm
Thanks for writing! If would like to share any of the rhymes you know, we’d love to add them to our Czech songs and rhymes pages. -Mama Lisa
April 8th, 2013 at 5:29 pm
My husband’s grandfather sings a song to our daughter, and I’d like to know the English translation. It starts off “slow baby posable . . ”
He says it’s about a baby walking with a basket full of eggs . . .
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
April 8th, 2013 at 8:35 pm
Mandy – If you can get a recording of him singing the song we can probably find someone who can help with the lyrics. -Lisa
June 16th, 2013 at 11:09 pm
My dad use to say this phonetic rhyme to me. I know his grandmother came from Bohemia as listed from her entrance papers at Ellis Island.
Incy mincy tippety fig
Idle didle domonig
Itcy pitsy domonitcy
Om Pom polivue
Out goes you!
If there is any clues to what it means or where it comes from….I’d love to hear.
August 15th, 2013 at 8:26 pm
Trying to figure out this nursery rhyme that my mother use to tell me that she learned from her Czech grandmother. I do not know how to even spell in Czech so I will do it phonetically. It sounds like – Ish jo shek popo les ulta huni yako pes i wan clichi yi yi yi mushta kushki nupli di. She was told it was about a Jewish man and woman in the forest picking up bones – but her grandmother said that wasn’t quite right I’ve been trying to find the Czech spelling and true English translation for this rhyme for about25 years now. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks!
January 30th, 2014 at 10:13 am
Has anyone heard a nursery rhyme about a pig… It sounds like this
Moya mada nechka
Dobray goozboo deenya
Flaz la za pitz
Evila svinya
Nisho nisho noot noot noot
Nisho nisho noot noot noot
My gram says she was polish but doesn’t know where her parents were from. None of my polish friends recognize this. Someone suggested it may be Czech. If any one could help with both translations that would great!
February 6th, 2014 at 5:30 pm
Hi,
I do not know that nursery rhyme, but maybe I could help with the first three lines:
Moja galánečka
dobrá hospodyně
vlezla za pec
March 27th, 2014 at 11:28 am
Hi all,
I love this thread. I visited the Czech son links and didn’t see the one my grandmother used to sing to me. I would love to know the meaning of this one (I will spell the words phonetically). When I asked my grandmother what it meant, she said it was about a donkey, but it could have been about a horse. English was not her strong language.
I ya sam, diskie sam.
Sveck oh neechkie oh saylam.
Sveck oh neechkie, oh say lou ya,
Svoh, my janko, paul may lou ya.
I ya sam, diskie sam.
Sveck oh neechkie oh saylam.
Here’s another fun word to teach your family – poopeck – its the Czech word for belly button :)
Thanks so much!
Debbie
April 5th, 2014 at 6:40 pm
Hi Debbie
The song is about horses
A já sám, vždycky sám, své koníčky osedlám,
a já sám, vždycky sám, své koníčky osedlám,
své koníčky okšíruju, svou panenku pomiluju, a já sám, vždycky sám, své koníčky osedlám,
své koníčky okšíruju, svou panenku pomiluju, a já sám, vždycky sám, své koníčky osedlám
May 2nd, 2014 at 11:07 am
I was hoping to find the rhyme Granny Gulas always said for little toes. Sounded like:
Babishek, cryshez, baneshka, creshka, coo, coody, coo.
November 3rd, 2014 at 6:42 pm
My grandmother’s family came from a town outside Prague (in what she always called Bohemia) called Lipec. Here is a postcard from my great grandfather’s papers:
http://www.ultimate.com/phil/lipec.jpg
Can anyone tell me what name to look for on a modern map?
I remember she did a version of “stirring the pot”, but I can’t remember what variation! I remember a rhyme like “zmazhila lalishdishka”
And “this is the way the farmer rides”
But one I haven’t seen at all is one that includes something about repairing (or making) a shoe, where she would tap on our feet with her fist. The rhyme I remember is something like “kovey kovey kovey zichku”
Thanks in advance for any help!
November 3rd, 2014 at 10:05 pm
Phil, if you put “Lipec Czech Republic” into Google maps, it’ll lead you right there. It’s about 30 miles East of Prague, following the Road 11 (E67), South-West of a town called Žiželice and South of a smaller one called Radovesnice II. You need to zoom in very much because it’s a very small town and the name doesn’t show till you’ve zoomed in a lot.
November 9th, 2014 at 3:07 pm
Hi Phil
Takhle jedou páni
http://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=2802&c=153
Vařila liška krupky, hrách
http://www.mamalisa.com/?lang=Czech&t=es&p=3003
Kovej, kovej, kováříčku
http://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=1023&c=153
Hana
November 14th, 2014 at 7:36 pm
Hello! I’m wondering if anyone could helprme with a translation. My great great grandmother was czech and she used to do this version of finger play with my mother who then passed it on to myself and my sisters. It sounds phonetically something life this:
Vadiwa vadiwa tatichku
Tomu dawa
tomu dawa
Tomu dawa
Takikus takikus takikus
Aynta unta kowa meshishka
On tuto skuma skuvawa
Thank you!
November 15th, 2014 at 6:23 pm
Hi Donna,
We have a different version of this rhyme at the link below:
http://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=1025&c=153
I hope that helps!
Would anyone else know Donna’s version?
Cheers,
Mama Lisa
November 19th, 2014 at 7:23 pm
Hi Donna
I am really sorry. I do not know your version but the Czech words could be like this:
Vařila vařila kašičku
Tomu dala
tomu dala
Tomu dala
Taky kus taky kus taky kus
A tak utíkala myšička
………………..schovala
Hana
March 24th, 2015 at 5:37 am
My grandmother was Bohemian and used to sing a song to us that sounded like “da da go bee butts shish ski” . She would sing it mostly to the babies and tap their bare feet together. Do you know all of the Bohemian words and also the English words? I can hum the tune, but I can’t remember all of the words.
March 24th, 2015 at 10:38 pm
Hi Judy
I suppose that you are looking for the rhyme:
Paci paci pacičky
http://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=1024&c=153
Cheers,
Hana
March 30th, 2015 at 3:11 am
My grandmother, Ruzena Vydra Blaha, (born in Blatna, 1879) used to sing a song while bouncing me on her knee when I was just a tot. I had to do with the way a prince would ride, a lady would ride, etc. I know no Czech whatsoever, but phonetically it sounded like “Daclay edoe pahnee, daclay edoe pahnee, dock-sul-kee, brohulkee, etc. This was nearly seventy years ago and my memories of it are fading. But my daughter would love to learn all the real Czech lyrics and sing them to her newborn son. Can anybody help me to find the lyrics and melody of this fun nursery rhyme that made me laugh so hard as a toddler when Grandma Rose Blaha would bounce me as if in a steeplechase?
Thank you so much, Roy
March 30th, 2015 at 9:55 am
Hi
One version of that rhyme:
http://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=2802&c=153
Hana
March 30th, 2015 at 12:35 pm
Not very good, but maybe helpful:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqjolIJABk0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uT_1jKPbtc
A lot of Czech songs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0CH5o_by7A
March 30th, 2015 at 12:42 pm
thank you so much!
June 16th, 2015 at 7:18 am
Hello! My great grandmother was from Czechoslovakia, and I’m trying to find a finger play that is very similar to the mouse and fox finger play, but some of the words sound different. It starts by swirling in the palm and goes to your fingers, I only know bits and pieces but I can spell them phonetically one part sounds like “temu dalah” and each time that repeats it slightly changes how it sounds, and towards the end of the finger play it sounds like “tens-vi-shell” twice i believe, and then moves to ” Beajshala, Beajshala, Beajshala” like the other finger plays. I have not been able to find any with the sound “tens-vi-shell” but that part is what i remember the most clearly in the finger play so I know the fox and mouse are not them. Please if anyone could help me find this finger play I would be so grateful!
June 16th, 2015 at 12:21 pm
Allyssa -are you looking for the one at this link:
http://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=3003&c=153
September 2nd, 2015 at 1:57 am
Can anyone help me with this, my grandma use to say a little rhyme to me when I was little. It something about a kitty, not sure on the spelling. Kutzi webasque commana wathasow shmuticlay kutzi kutzi kutzi.
March 20th, 2016 at 6:30 pm
My Mother used to sing & play this nursery rhyme with us: while exchanging thumb & index finger pinching the back of each hand until it was 4 hands high…then the song began about the “Tower of Babel” with the end of the song the tower collapsed leaving only the mice in the tower running around tickling each of us into giggles!
My mom called it (phonetically) “Bawbi Lon Skevesha”. Our Czech side is from the eastern Moravian/Wallachian area.
Would anyone know the full song in Czech and the full English translation? That would be fun to get again and pass on to our children and grandchildren. Thanks !
May 3rd, 2016 at 6:27 pm
My grandmother and mom did this little rhyme on the bottom of a baby’s foot about shoeing a horse. It went skrab, skrab, skrab, vrti, vrti, vrti, kuy, kuy, kuy, kuy. When you said skrab you would act like you are scraping the foot, then for the vrti you would drill the foot and for the kuy you would hammer the foot (of course all done gently). I know what the skrab and vrti mean buy I cannot fine a word in the Czech language that would mean kuy (don’t know if that is the way it is spelled). Both my mom and grandmother are deceased. Would love to know if this was just a rhyme they did or if others did it also and what kuy or kooy stood for? It was supposed to be hammering in the nails for a horseshoe???? Thanks.
May 4th, 2016 at 7:56 pm
Hi Patsy
Kovej, kovej, kovaříčku
okovej mi mou nožičku,
okovej mi obě,
zaplatím já tobě.
škráb, škráb, vrty, vrty, kuj kuj kuj!
kovář – a blacksmith
kovat – shoe sth.
kuj – it is the imperative mood (hammer sth or shoe sth)
I think, that you are right – “hammering in the nails for a horseshoe”
Hana
May 4th, 2016 at 8:09 pm
Hi Patsy
you can find the song here:
http://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=1023
In Czech we have two similar verbs:
kovat – hammer sth or shoe sth (horseshoe) – imperativ “kovej”
kout – hammer sth or forge sth (IRON) – imperativ “KUJ”
May 27th, 2016 at 4:44 pm
My stary mama Mary Misan (Shebesta), born in Holic or thereabouts, used to bounce us on her knee and say:
Tapu linki tapuchki.
Any ideas would be appreciated.
May 28th, 2016 at 3:48 pm
Hana wrote to us from the Czech Republic:
“Actually the town Holič is in the Slovak Republic (we used to be one republic – the Czechoslovak Republic). In Czech we have versions of that rhyme like Paci paci pacičky…
The versions with Ťapi ťapi are always in Slovak. I have found only these two versions:
1.
Ťapulinky, ťapky,
daj Janíčko labky,
daj Janíčko prštek,
výjdeme na vŕštek.
English Translation
Ťapulinky, ťapky
Little John, give me your hand (palm)
Little John, give me your finger
We are going to climb the hill
2.
Ťapulinky, ťapky,
daj Alexko labky,
daj Alexko prštek,
výdeme na vŕštek.
A na vŕšku barančiatko,
pozerá sa na chlapčiatko,
ťap, tap, ťapušká,
prečo nemáš kožúška?
English Translation
Ťapulinky, ťapky
Little Alex, give me your hand (palm)
Little Alex, give me your finger
We are going to climb the hill
And there is a little lamb on the hill
It is looking at the little boy
Ťap, tap, ťapušká,
“Why don’t you have fur?”
You can find many versions of “Ťap ťap ťapušky” on this forum (in Slovak only)”.
Thank you Hana!
June 3rd, 2016 at 3:11 am
Oh my goodness I LOVE that you posted varila mysicka kasicku!!!!! My mom and dad are both gone, as is my brother. My niece asked me recently for this one. THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!! :)
June 12th, 2016 at 8:23 pm
My wife’s mother grew up in a bohemian family. Grandma sang a rhyme which went like this… vashidi vashidi cows kiss kitchen, and ended with tumbilla, tumbilla, …
Does anyone recognize this?
June 15th, 2016 at 6:08 am
Hi Bruce
what about this rhyme:
Vařila myšička kašičku…
http://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=1025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-BfoaD4T-w
June 24th, 2016 at 10:31 pm
My husband said his grandmother used to say a rhyme to them in Czech when he was little but he can’t remember the exact words. He thinks it was possibly some version of the quiet game as the rough translation was “He who is the first to wake the poop has to eat it.” Does this sound familiar to anyone?
June 28th, 2016 at 3:25 am
Hi Amanda
I have found a version with the “dirty word”
Tiše, tiše, ………. spí, kdo ho vzbudí, ten ho sní!
I am sorry. I like Czech language and I would never teach my children this version. You can replace the word “poop” and use for example “ježek” – hedgehog
and I think that that nursery rhyme is much better…
Tiše, tiše, JEŽEK spí, kdo ho vzbudí, toho sní!
Hana
July 27th, 2016 at 10:32 pm
Need correct spelling & words to a “toe” rhyme that my husband’s aunt use to say to the kids.
Bohbec (she would wiggle their big toe) Raschek. Veska chacha-veska…. male ki (then in English she would say… And the little one flew away!)
Thank you so much! Love your help!
July 31st, 2016 at 12:46 pm
Hi Sandy
maybe it was only made-up nursery rhyme. My guess is that …
“bohbec” – PALEC – thumb
rashek – HRÁŠEK – peas (pea) / in Czech index finger is UKAZOVÁČEK/
veska – VIČKA – Hairy tare, hairy vetch (Vicia hirsuta)
chacha-veska – ČOČOVIČKA – čočka – lentil (plant)
male ki – MALÍK or MALÍČEK – pinkie
Hana
August 4th, 2016 at 1:02 pm
My grandmother used to sing one to me as a child. I only remember a few lines
Clap clap clap your hands
…..
God gave us our little hands to work with
God gave us our little hands to play with
I am terrible with Czech spelling but in English some of the lines sounded like
Rush rush rush haleigh
Diam en jetsch ku vyieljaleigh
August 20th, 2016 at 5:22 am
My grandma use to sing a song while doing a circle on our hand going up each finger and tickling under the arm. It was about a mouse trying to find his cheese and under the arm is where he found it. I would like to know the words to it as my grandma has since passed on.
August 23rd, 2016 at 11:51 pm
My grandmother was from Ostrava and used to sing me a song when I was little about a flower on a bridge. I can’t seem to find it online. I know this is an old thread but maybe if someone sees it they can help me? It started off (phonetically) like “natom proskim moste, konvalinka roste” or something. She died when I was 12 and I’d like to sing the song to my daughter.
September 14th, 2016 at 3:24 pm
Hello there ..
My great grandma was from Czech Republic and used to do this hand rhyme with me when I was a kid but I don’t remember it… It is close to Vařila myšička kašičku but the words and hand gestures don’t sound the same and the hand things are a little different… I remember you put like an X on the hand pull the pointer finger and thumb and then she would run her hand up the arm like she’s tickling you… I hope you can help me with this.
September 15th, 2016 at 10:25 am
Hi Jenn
Your song is this:
https://pisnicky-akordy.cz/lidove-pisne/na-tom-prazskym-moste
Na tom pražským mostě (On the Prague bridge)
1. Na tom pražským mostě, rozmarýnka roste,
žádnej ji tam nezalejvá, ona sama roste,
žádnej ji tam nezalejvá, ona sama roste.
2. Já tam tudy půjdu, zalejvat ji budu,
ona se mi zazelená, já ji trhat budu,
ona se mi zazelená, já ji trhat budu.
Version with the flower “ROZMARÝNKA” – ROSEMARY:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQRLmIS3DU8
Version with the flower “KONVALINKA” – “lily of the valley”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6l1BY6aW70
Best wishes
Hana
September 30th, 2016 at 12:32 am
Been looking for a translation for this song or rhyme, phonetically it goes:
Hulana, Hulana
Donselvali ushlepreach
Ushla thekla novaich
Again, sorry for the spelling, I’m sure I absolutely butchered it.
October 6th, 2016 at 4:51 am
Does anyone know of a lap game that was roughly translated
The shoemaker is making shoes
The shoemaker is making shoes
Wheres my shoes?
Look! (And then my grandmother would point up and when i looked she would put me upside down)
I think the first 2 lines are 9 syllables total (as a kid it sounded like one word repeated 3 times “schubute” or something like that)
The wheres my shoes part was 6 syllables
And then it ended with divej se
Thanks in advanced :) excited to find this page!
October 9th, 2016 at 6:28 pm
Hi Emilie
I know only this rhyme about making shoes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEoOYvrNAZk
Šiju boty do roboty,
nemám chleba ani sýra,
všechno mi to kočka snědla!
Udělala kšššš!
Hana
October 9th, 2016 at 6:41 pm
hi Emilie
Šije šije švec
Šije šije švec,
zlámal kopytec.
Zlámal kopyto,
odpusťme mu to.
This is another rhyme about making shoes.
Šili ševci, šili boty,
sedlákovi do roboty,
Šili ševci, šili boty,
sedlákovi do pole.
Šije, šije, švec,
zlámal kopytec,
Zlámal kopyto,
odpusťme mu to.
I am sorry. I do not know your version.
Hana
March 31st, 2017 at 2:19 am
Hi. When we were young, my Dad would have us stand on his feet and sing a song while he walked around the room. Sounded like this:
Yedna vje, Tata de, Shrepti….
Then with his grandchildren, one of the words changed:
Yedna vje, Deda de….
Would anyone know the rest of the song and it’s meaning? Thank you so much!