Stary niedźwiedź
Stary niedźwiedź
The Old Bear
Circle Game
Circle Game
(Polish)
(English)
Stary niedźwiedź
Mocno śpi.
Stary niedźwiedź
Mocno śpi.
My się go boimy
Na palcach chodzimy
Jak się zbudzi,
To nas zje.
Jak się zbudzi,
To nas zje.
Pierwsza godzina,
- Niedźwiedź śpi.
Druga godzina,
- Niedźwiedź chrapie.
Trzecia godzina,
- Niedźwiedź łapie!
The old bear
Is sleeping soundly.
The old bear
Is sleeping soundly.
We are afraid of him so
We are walking on tip-toe.
When he wakes up,
He will have us to eat.
When he wakes up,
He will have us to eat.
The first hour has passed,
- The bear's sleeping.
The second hour has passed,
- The bear's snoring.
The third hour has passed,
- The bear is catching us!
Game Instructions
One kid is the "bear". The "bear" goes in the center of the circle and crouches down pretending to sleep, while snoring loudly. The other kids go in a circle holding hands around the bear singing the song. Once you get to the line, "The first hour", the kids in the circle stand still and recite the rest of the song. On the last line, the "bear" gets up and tries to catch someone. The other kids run away out of the circle. Whoever is caught is the new "bear" and the game starts all over again.
Comments
The tune to this song comes from the play called, "Wesele" (Wedding), circa 1900 by Stanislaw Wyspianski.
Many thanks to Maria Alley at Do Re Me and Maria for sharing her recording with us! Maria wrote, "I have developed a music program called World Music and Rhythm Talk, a music program for teaching the music and rhythms of the world to children ages newborn to 8 years. There is a great deal of cultural diversity in this program and I would like to share a Polish song with you and your site readers."
Thanks and Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Agnieszka Magnucka for contributing and translating this song.
Dziękuję!
