| Vos-zhe bistu, ketsele broyges,
|
| vos geystu aropgelozt di noz?
|
| Oy efsher vilstu visn dayn yikhes,
|
| ken ikh dir zogn ver un vos …
|
| Dayn tate iz a shmarovoznik,
|
| dayn mame ganvet fish in mark,
|
| un dayn bruder iz a kartyozhnik,
|
| un dayn shvester geyt mit a soldat
|
| Dayn feter iz geshtanen oyf di rogn,
|
| dayn mume — a hendlerke in mark,
|
| un dayn bruder zitst in di ostrogn,
|
| un dayn shvester geyt mit a matros …
|
| Dayn zeyde iz geven a shoykhet,
|
| dayn bobe — a tukerin in bod,
|
| un aleyn bistu, oy, a mamzer,
|
| un genumen bistu fun priut …
|
| English Translation:
|
| Why, little kitten, are you so angry?
|
| Why is your nose turned down?
|
| Oy, perhaps you’d like to know your breeding?
|
| I can tell you who and what:
|
| Your father greases wagon wheels
|
| Your mother steals fish at the fair
|
| And your brother is a card-sharp
|
| And your sister lives with a Cossack.
|
| Your uncle hangs around streetcorners
|
| Your aunt a street-peddler
|
| And your brother sits in prison
|
| And your sister… ai-di-di-dai-dai-dum.
|
| Your grandpa was a butcher
|
| Your grandma a bath-house attendant
|
| And you yourself are a bastard
|
| Taken from an orphanage. |