Kierie Karool
This song is based on the English nursery rhyme Hey, Diddle, Diddle. Below is a literal English translation from the Afrikaans…
Kierie Karool
Hey, Diddle, Diddle
Nursery Rhyme
Nursery Rhyme
(Afrikaans)
(English)
Kierie* Karool**
Die kat speel viool,
Die koei spring oor die maan
Die hondjie skater
oor hierdie flater***
En die bord en lepel
dans saam.
Hey diddle, diddle, little baboon,
The cat plays the fiddle,
The cow jumps over the moon,
The dog laughs out loud,
To see such fun***,
And the plate and the spoon
Dance together.
Notes
*Kierie is a meaningless word; it stands for "hey diddle diddle"
**Karool is a baboon
***approximation
Later I received an email from Anna-Marie-Dive Dudes saying, "The word kierie in one of the Afrikaans rhymes is not a meaningless word it means walking stick."
Comments
The original English version of Hey Diddle, Diddle goes...
Hey diddle, diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon.
The little dog laughed
To see such sport,
And the dish ran away with the spoon.
Thanks!
Thanks and Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Marietjie Herselman for contributing this rhyme. Thanks also to Edo Nyland for translating it to English and to Anna-Marie-Dive Dudes for help with the meaning of the Afrikaans word kierie.
Baie dankie!