A variant of the text of this riddle song appeared in the S. Ginzburg-P. Marek collection of 1901; text and melody were published in Ost und West, 1905. This song type of the contest between a maiden and young man is a popular international ballad theme – the oldest type mentioned in the Child Collection of Anglo-Scottish Balladry (Child I). A few of the Yiddish riddles were compared to the English type by compiler in her paper “International Motifs in the Yiddish Ballad” (1964). The German parallels were cited by Alfred Landau in 1903. The Yiddish song contains a Jewish motif in two replies, which is absent from other European parallels–that the “Torah is deeper than the spring” and “Mikve-vaser (the water of the ritual bath house) is without a fish.” One version (Mir zingen, Paris, 1948) combines the riddles of this song with those of the popular song “Tum-balalayke.” In The Jewish Songster, 1929, the song is translated into Hebrew as “Yaldoh yaldosi.”
You fine little girl,
you pretty girl,
I’ll ask you something,
a little riddle:
What is higher than a house?
What is quicker than a mouse?
You foolish young man,
you simpleton,
you have no sense
in your head;
Smoke is higher than a house,
A cat is quicker than a mouse.
You fine little girl,
you pretty girl,
I’ll ask you something,
a little riddle:
What flies without wings?
And what makes walls without bricks?
You foolish young man,
you simpleton,
you have no sense
in your head;
Snow flies without wings, of course,
Frost makes walls without bricks.
You fine little girl,
you pretty girl,
I’ll ask you something,
a little riddle:
What is redder than a fire?
And what is more faithful than a husband?
You foolish young man,
you simpleton,
you have no sense
in your head;
The frying pan is redder than a fire
And a father is more faithful than a husband.
Du meydele, du fayns,
Du meydele, du sheyns,
Kh’vel dikh epes fregn
A retenish a kleyns:
Vos iz hekher fun a hoyz?
Vos iz flinker fun a moyz?
Du narisher bokher,
Du narisher trop,
Du host nit keyn seykhl
In dayn kop;
Der roykh iz hekher fun a hoyz,
Di kats iz flinker fun a moyz.
Du meydele, du fayns,
Du meydele, du sheyns,
Kh’vel dikh epes fregn
A retenish a kleyns:
Vos flit on fligl?
Un vos iz gemoyert on tsigl?
Du narisher bokher,
Du narisher trop,
Du host nit keyn seykhl
In dayn kop;
Shney flit dokh on fligl,
Der frost iz gemoyert on tsigl.
Du meydele, du fayns,
Du maydele, du sheyns,
Kh’vel dikh epes fregn
A retenish a kleyns:
Vos iz royter fun a flam?
Un vos iz getrayer fun a man?
Du, narisher bokher,
Du, narisher trop,
Du host nit keyn seykhl
In dayn kop;
Di fan iz royter fun a flam,
Un a tate iz getrayer fun a man.
דו מײדעלע, דו פֿײַנס
דו מײדעלע, דו שײנס,
כ’װעל דיך עפּעס פֿרעגן
אַ רעטעניש אַ קלײנס:
װאָס איז העכער פֿון אַ הױז?
װאָס איז פֿלינקער פֿון אַ מױז?
דו נאַרישער בחור,
דו נאַרישער טראָפֿ,
דו האָסט ניט קײן שׂכל
אין דײַן קאָפֿ;
דער רױך איז העכער פֿון אַ הױז,
די קאַצ איז פֿלינקער פֿון אַ מױז.
די מײדעלע, דו פֿײַנס,
דו מײדעלע, דו שײנס,
כיװעל דיך עפּעס פֿרעגן
א רעטעניש א קלײַנס:
װאָס פֿליט אָן פֿליגל?
און װאָס איז געמױערט אָן ציגל?
דו נאַרישער בחור,
דו נאָרישער טראָפֿ,
דו האָסט ניט קײן שׂכל
אין דײן קאָפֿ;
שנײ פֿליט דאָך אָן פֿליגל,
דער פֿראָסט איז געמױערט אָן ציגל
דו מײדעלע,, דו פֿײַנס,
דו מײדעלע, דו שײנס,
כיװעל דיך עפּעס פֿרעגן
אַ רעטעניש אַ קלײנס:
װאָס איז רױטער פֿון אַ פֿלאָם?
און װאָס איז געטרײַער פֿון אַ מאַן?
דו נאָרישער בחור,
דו נאַרישער טראָפֿ,
דו האָסט ניט קײן שׂכל
אין דײַן קאָפֿ;
די פֿאָן איז רױטער פֿון אַ פֿלאַם,
און אַ טאָטע איז געטרײַער פֿון אַ מאַן.
Song Title: Du Meydele, Du Fayns
The Songs of Generations: New Pearls of Yiddish Song anthology comprises songs that were either never printed before or appeared in rare and inaccessible publications — sometimes in different versions and without proper sources. Most of the songs in this book were submitted by readers of Chana and Yosl’s column “Perl fun der yidisher poezye” (Pearls of Yiddish Poetry) in the Yiddish newspaper Der Forverts (The Forward), initiated in October, 1970. Over 25 years, thousands of songs were collected in correspondence and on cassettes from readers throughout the world, and they represent a veritable national Yiddish song archive. Chana Mlotek, in her introduction, writes, “In the course of years the inquiries, contributions and enthusiasm of these readers have kept our own interest unflagging and have reinforced our dedication to this effort. And in recent years our participants have also been augmented by new readers from the former Soviet Russia, who receive our newspaper there or from newly-arrived immigrants in this country and Israel.”
