[Cz-L] Other children's book we read in Czernowitz

From: Miriam Taylor <mirtaylo_at_indiana.edu>
Date: Mon, 28 Dec 2009 10:34:45 -0500
To: "Czernowitz-L_at_cornell.edu" <Czernowitz-L_at_cornell.edu>
Reply-to: Miriam Taylor <mirtaylo_at_indiana.edu>

One of you mentioned "Der Struwwelpeter" as one of the books we read as
children. I remember it very well. A perfect example of the kind of book
NOT to read to children!

Pfui da steht er, der Struwwelpeter.
An den Händen beiden, ließ er sich nicht schneiden
seine Nägel fast ein Jahr , kämmen ließ er nicht sein Haar.

In English:

Yuk, there he stands, the unkempt Peter,
On both hands, he did not let anyone cut his fingernails, for almost a year,
he did not let anyone comb his hair.

Worse than the Struwwelpeter, which was at the beginning of the book,
was the story about Lotte, who liked to play with matches and set fire to
herself. The story ended with the words: "und sie brannte lichterloh"
Meaning: and she burned very brightly.
Enough to scare a child half to death.

Older children learned to declaim "Der Erlkönig"
I will not attempt to translate the whole poem, sufficient to say that it is
about a father riding through the night with his sick child.
It ends: Und in seinen Armen, das Kind war tot."
Meaning: and in his arms the child was dead.

Yiddish children's stories were kinder, consider the Eliezer Steinbarg
stories.
In retrospect, it is funny how German stories were adapted for a Yiddish
audience: for instance: in the story about the goat and the kids, after the
goat got the kids out of the wolf's belly, she washed them and fed them
"Kasha mit milech ". WHAT ELSE?

Mimi
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Received on 2009-12-28 09:02:32

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