Uncle Jazzbeau’s Gallimaufrey

the wolf, part 5

Here’s the next two stanzas of der volf. I feel honored to have such a reader as Zackary Sholem Berger who has risen to the challenge of teaching me good Yiddish. He has corrected some of my more egregious howlers.

un vi gar hot ayngeHeybn ayntsudremeln
hot er zikh gekhapt, az er hot nokh nisht gedavnt
keyn minkhe un keyn mayrev un nisht geleyent keyn krishme:
un er hot zikh oyfgezetst un gevolt nemen davenen—
ersht er hot dem nusekh fun davenen fargesn.

un az er hot derzen, az er hot oykh dos davenen fargesn,
hot im a shpar geton a tsvayter shtrom fun untern lefele,
un az der shtroM hot vider nisht gekent greykhn tsu zayne oygn
un geblibn shtekn in mitn fun zayn haldz—
hot shoyn der rov mer nisht gekent oysHaltn,
un er iz oyfgeshprungen un genumen loyfn
alts vayter un vayter mitn broytn shliakh.

And as he was about to fall asleep
he realized that he had not yet prayed
the afternoon prayer and the evening prayer
   and the prayer said before going to bed:
and he sat up straight and he prepared to pray—
but first of all he had forgotten the form of the prayers.

And as he saw that he had also forgotten how to pray,
a second stream welled up from the pit of his stomach
and as the stream could not reach his eyes
and remained stuck in his throat—
the rabbi could no longer stand it,
and he jumped up and began to run
further away down the broad road.

Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4.