Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 2 no. 115 December 8, 1992 1) Doggerel (Cecile Kuznitz) 2) Boym un tsig (Zev Hochberg) 3) Tsign oyf bemer (Yitzhak Kertesz) 4) A mayse mit a tsig (Noyekh Miller) 5) Introduction (Alexandra Klein) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 7 Dec 92 18:30:33 PST From: tsirl@leland.stanford.edu Subject: Phillips' doggerel With regard to the rhymed doggerel submitted by Gerald M. Phillips, beginning "Once I had a candy store . . .," a variation of this poem appears in the introduction to Hillel Halkin's translation of Sholem Aleichem's "Tevye the Dairyman" and "The Railroad Stories" (Shocken, 1987). Cecile Kuznitz 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 07 Dec 1992 22:30:14 -0400 (EDT) From: Zev Hochberg Subject: boym un tsig Seymour Axelrod asks for the background of the expression "oyf a yungn boym shpringen ale tsign (= all goats jump into young trees). On a recent visit to the San Diego Wild Animal Park, the monorail passed a group of goats (I don't recall the species). The guide suggested looking carefully at the surrounding trees - sure enough, a branch about 7 ft high held a young goat! So, the expression may be used to point out instinctive, common behavior - but it would help if we knew the basis for the behavior (safety? as an attack perch? etc) By the way, the Wild Animal Park (about 10 miles north of downtown SD) was wonderful. Zev Hochberg 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 8 Dec 92 08:36:19 PST From: Yitzhak Kertesz Subject: tsign oyfn beymer I agree with Shl. Axelrod's observation (110 #4), it is very frustrating that Bernstein often does not give any clue to the use, or to the meaning of the proverbs he lists. Regarding #362 ("Oyf a yungn boym shpringen ale tsign") I would like to suggest the following: "All goats leap at young trees" may be a simple observation, that goats, just as all animals, prefer to eat young, soft leaves and branches as opposed to the dry, old and hard ones. I assume, this is how you select fruits and produce, as well. You may ask, what's special about the goats? I think they symbolize the gentlemen, who also prefer to jump on the "yunge boymelakh", if you know what I mean. Yitzhak Kertesz 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 8 Dec 92 11:09:09 EST From: nmiller@starbase.trincoll.edu Subject: A mayse mit a tsig Zev Hochberg's story about goats in trees, as well as the references to doggerel, resulted in the dredging up of a fragment from childhood. There may be lines missing which I hope someone can supply. Bob Rothstein may also want to correct my non-existent Slavic. [A shtetl Jew is hauled up before a magistrate] Panye marevoy di zakh iz derfun azoy ..? pa'am oyo koze v'hakoze shtukhem-bukhem umoye dakhem.. Roughly: Your honor, this is what happened: ..? once there was a goat. the goat pushed and shoved and ate the roof.. It occurs to me that having to learn this kind of stuff may have something to do with my _former_ (but no longer: it's Noyekh Redux!) sour view of culture junk. Noyekh 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 8 Dec 92 11:11:51 MEZ From: klein Subject: Introduction I am a student of Computational Linguistics, German and English at the University of Trier, Germany. The German curriculum allows for specialization in Yiddish; Trier has got one of two Professors for Yiddish Studies in Europe. I'd like to hear from other students of Yiddish. Alexandra Klein ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol 2.116