One I love

One I love,
Two I love,
Three I love, I say.
Four I love with all my heart.
Five I cast away.

From Hana in the Time of the Tulips, a nice book for parents too…

One grabs silver

Chinese Nursery Rhyme

One grabs silver,
Two grabs gold,
Three, don’t laugh
And you’ll grow old.

La bourse aux 2 sous

This is a French translation by Eugène Stanciu of the Romanian folktale Punguţa cu doi bani by Ion Creangă

Il était une fois une vieille femme et un vieil homme. La vieille possédait une poule, et le vieillard un coq.
La poule de la vieille pondait deux œufs par jour et…
…la vieille mangeait beaucoup d’œufs, mais le vieillard n’en profitait jamais.
Un jour, le vieil homme lui dit :
- Donne-moi quelques œufs pour apaiser ma faim.
- Si tu veux des œufs, tu n’as qu’à frapper ton coq, lui répondit la vieille grippe-sou.
Le vieil homme écouta le conseil de la vieille, attrapa le coq et le frappa en lui disant:
- Tiens! Ou bien tu ponds des œufs ou bien tu t’en vas de ma maison!
Le coq s’enfuit de la maison. En chemin, il trouva une bourse avec deux sous. Il la prit dans son bec et retourna chez son maître.
Sur le chemin il croisa une riche calèche; dès que le boyard vit le coq, il ordonna au cocher de voir ce qu’il avait dans son bec.
Le cocher retira la bourse du bec du coq, la donna au boyard et continua son chemin.
Le coq n’abandonnant pas sa bourse, il poursuivit la calèche en criant.
- Cocorico! Rendez-moi ma bourse aux deux sous !
Le boyard, furibond, ordonna au cocher de jeter le coq dans le puits, sur le côté du chemin.
Mais, le coq but l’eau jusqu’à ce que le puits soit à sec.
En sortant du puits, il poursuivit à nouveau la calèche en criant.
- Cocorico! Rendez-moi ma bourse aux deux sous !
Le boyard en colère, arrivant à la maison, ordonna à une domestique sans cœur de jeter le coq dans le four.
La vieille attrapa le coq et le jeta dans le four plein de braises.
Mais, le coq répandit l’eau avalée, et le feu s’éteignit.
Il en sortit aussitôt, sain et sauf, courut à la fenêtre du boyard malhonnête et cria:
- Cocorico! Rendez-moi ma bourse aux deux sous!
- Voilà! Je me suis mis dans un sale pétrin avec ce coq, dit le boyard. Il ordonna de le lancer au milieu du bétail. Peut-être un bœuf furieux l’encornerait-il et lui ferait la peau!
Alors, si tu avais vu le coq avaler les bœufs, les vaches et les veaux jusqu’au dernier, tu aurais vu son ventre gonfler et devenir aussi gros qu’une montagne.
Il déploya ensuite les ailes dans la direction du soleil, assombrissant toute la maison du boyard et il réclama encore la bourse aux deux sous.
Quand il vit cette prouesse, le boyard pâlit de peur et jeta le coq dans la salle du trésor où dormait son or… peut-être avalerait-il une pièce qui lui resterait en travers de la gorge.
Et le coq gourmand commença à picorer l’or.
Quand il n’y eut plus d’or, il sortit et demanda encore la bourse. En voyant qu’il ne pouvait rien faire, le boyard lui lança finalement la bourse aux deux sous.
Satisfait, le coq attrapa la bourse dans son bec et partit.
Les volailles de la cour du boyard, éblouies par tant de vaillance, le suivirent.
Sur le chemin de la maison, le coq se pavanait tandis que les volailles marchaient derrière lui en procession.
Arrivé à la maison du vieil homme, il appela son maître pour qu’il lui donnât une couverture.
Il battit des ailes et, aussitôt, la cour du vieil homme se remplit de bétail…
…et sur la couverture, un monticule d’or brillait au soleil.
La vieille crevait d’envie.
- Grand-père, dit-elle, donne-moi un peu d’or.
- N’y pense pas. Quand je t’ai demandé des œufs, qu’as-tu répondu?
Alors la grand-mère attrapa la poule et la tapa.
Dès que la poule s’échappa de ses mains, elle s’enfuit et sur le chemin, trouva une perle en verre. Elle l’avala.
Ensuite elle retourna rapidement chez la vieille femme et alla droit vers son poulailler.
Après une heure ou deux la poule, très fière de son exploit, pondit la perle.
La vieille femme crut que la poule se moquait d’elle…
…elle l’empoigna et la frappa à mort. La vieille avare sans cœur demeura très pauvre.
Mais le vieil homme vécut en paix jusqu’à la fin de ses jours, aux côtés de son coq futé.

The Little Bag with Two Coins

Here is a translation of the Romanian folktale Punguţa cu doi bani by Ion Creangă
And here is a slightly modified version that I did for my kindercat: pdf

Once upon a time there were an old woman and an old man who were living in the countryside. The old man had a rooster and the woman a hen. The woman was very proud and happy because the hen laid an egg every day but she was also very greedy and never offered a single egg to the man.

In vain the old man asked the woman for some eggs, she never wanted to hear about sharing them with the man.
- “Beat your rooster if you want to eat eggs! My hen didn’t lay any egg until I started beating it!”

Tempted and greedy, the old man ran after the rooster, caught it and beat the poor animal.
-”You start laying eggs or you’ll leave my house, because you are just a burden to me!”

The rooster escaped from the old man’s hands, scared and dazed, started wandering when he saw on the road a little bag with a couple of coins in it. Very happy, he took the little bag in his beak and went to the old man’s house. While it was going back home, very pleased with its little treasure, the rooster met a carriage with some elegant ladies and a landlord. The man saw the rooster and told the driver:
- “Go down and bring me the little bag from the rooster’s beak!’

The driver took the little bag and brought it to the man. The man put the bag in his pocket and ordered the driver to move on.

The rooster, very angry, followed the carriage and yelled:

Cucurigu, mighty man,
Give me back my two coins bag!

The landlord, irritated by the rooster’s perseverance, seeing a fountain, ordered the driver to throw the rooster in it!

What could the driver do but obeying? He went down from the carriage, caught the rooster and threw it into the fountain! When the rooster saw the danger, he started drinking the water from the fountain until he could fly away from there.Then he started running after the carriage again, yelling as loudly as he could:

Cucurigu, mighty man,
Give me back my two coins bag!

Very angry, the landlord said:
— You trouble rooster, I will take care of you!

As soon as the landlord arrived at his mansion, he ordered a woman from the kitchen to throw the rooster in an oven’s fire. The woman caught the rooster and threw it into the fire, putting a rock at the oven’s door. But the rooster started then to pour all the water he had drunk from the fountain and put the fire out flooding the kitchen. Then he removed the rock from the oven’s door and started yelling again:

Cucurigu, mighty man,
Give me back my two coins bag!

— Well, I found my Godfather with this rooster, says the angry landlord! Take it and throw it into the middle of the cattle, maybe he’ll be crushed by an angry bull and we’ll be over with it!

The driver took the rooster and threw it in the middle of the cattle. That was all the rooster was waiting for. He started gobbling one after another all the cows and all the bulls and flew to the landowner’s window, yelling again:

Cucurigu, mighty man,
Give me back my two coins bag!

The landowner didn’t know what else to do to get rid of this rooster! He threw it in his cellar where all his money was kept, hoping that this way, the rooster would choke itself with one coin.

But, the greedy rooster, emptied the landowner’s chest full of golden coins, got out from the cellar and yelled again:

Cucurigu, mighty man,
Give me back my two coins bag!

When the landowner saw that it was not possible to defeat the rooster, he gave it the little bag only to get rid of it. Happy, the rooster took his little bag in its beak and went back to the old man’s house! The landowner was shocked when he saw all his chickens following the rooster, like at a wedding.
— I am happy not to have anything to do with this rooster anymore, said the landowner, he brought me only bad luck!

Very proud with a whole crowd surrounding him,the rooster got to the old man’s house and started yelling: “Cucurigu!!! Cucurigu!!!”

When the old man heard the rooster’s voice, he got out off the house and saw the giant rooster surrounded by a lot of chickens. He had never seen such a thing before in his life! The proud rooster asked for a rug to be put in the middle of the yard. Quickly, the old man got the rug and the rooster beated his wings and soon the old man’s yard was full of cattle and the rug full of money.

The old man’s eyes started sparkling of joy, and he didn’t know what to do for his clever rooster.

When the old woman saw such a racket, she came quickly to the old man’s yard to see what was happening. When she saw so much money,she couldn’t believe it green of envy.

Ashamed, she begged :
— Please, give me some money, old man!
— Eat your heart up, old lady! Did you give me any eggs when I asked you for? I did what you told me and look what my rooster gave me! Beat your hen too if you want she brings you money!

The old lady, greedily looking at the money, and forgetting that what she had told the oldman to do was just a lie, caught her hen and beated it. The poor hen ran to the road escaping from the old woman’s angry hands.

There, the hen saw a little crystal ball, swallowed it and went home feeling very happy! He flew to her nest and after an hour gave the old lady the good news. The old lady ran as fast as he could to see what treasures the hen had brought home!

When she looked in the nest and saw the little crystal ball, the old lady got so angry that the hen, scared, ran away and never came back again. So the old woman became really so poor that she didn’t have even a hen to eat its eggs!

The old man was carrying his rooster with him everywhere with pride. He gave the rooster a golden necklace and red boots. He built many beautiful houses with many fruit trees and they lived happily ever after.

Chocolate

Audio: (.rm / .wmv)

Bate, bate, chocolate,
Tu nariz de cacahuate.
Uno, dos, tres, CHO!
Uno, dos, tres, CO!
Uno, dos, tres, LA!
Uno, dos, tres, TE!
Chocolate, chocolate!
Bate, bate, chocolate!
Bate, bate, bate, bate!
Bate, bate, CHOCOLATE!

.en translation

Stir, stir, chocolate,
Your nose is a peanut.
One, two, three, CHO!
One, two, three, CO!
One, two, three, LA!
One, two, three, TE!
Chocolate, chocolate!
Stir, stir, the chocolate!
Stir, stir, stir, stir,
Stir, stir, CHOCOLATE!

There’s a Cow on the Mountain

Traditional Chinese nursery rhyme

There’s a cow on the mountain, the old saying goes,
On her legs are four feet, on her feet are eight toes.
Her tail is behind on the end of her back,
And her head is in front on the end of her neck.

This little frog has two eyes

Traditional Chinese Nursery Rhyme

This little frog has two eyes,
Four legs,
One mouth, no tail,
Says croak, croak and
Plops into the water.

These little frogs have four eyes,
Eight legs,
Two mouths, no tails,
Say croak, croak and

Pairs or Pears

Twelve pairs hanging high,
Twelve knights riding by,
Each knight took a pear,
And yet left a dozen there.

Two Pigeons

I had two pigeons bright and gay,
They flew from me the other day.
What was the reason they did go?
I cannot tell, for I do not know.

Eight Pigs

Two mother pigs lived in a pen, (thumbs)
Each had four babies and that made ten. (fingers of both hands)
These four babies were black and white. (fingers of one hand)
These four babies were black as night. (fingers of the other hand)
All eight babies loved to play. (wiggle fingers)
And they rolled and they rolled in the mud all day. (roll hands)

Pig Poems, Limericks and Nursery Rhymes