An old man planted a
turnip. The turnip grew to be enormous. The old man
started to pull the turnip out of the ground. He pulled
and pulled, but couldn't pull it out. So he called the
old woman over.
"All right –
said the grandmother – I’m coming".
The old woman took hold of the old man, the old man took
hold of the turnip, they pulled and pulled, but couldn't
pull it out. So the old woman called the granddaughter
over.
"All right –
said the granddaughter – I’m coming".
The granddaughter took hold of the old woman, the old
woman took hold of the old man, the old man took hold of
the turnip, they pulled and pulled, but couldn't pull it
out. So the granddaughter called the dog over.
"All right – said the dog – I’m
coming".
The dog took hold of the granddaughter, the granddaughter
took hold of the old woman, the old woman took hold of
the old man, the old man took hold of the turnip, they
pulled and pulled, but couldn't pull it out. So the dog
called the cat over.
"All right –
said the cat – I’m coming".
The cat took hold of the dog, the dog took hold of the
granddaughter, the granddaughter took hold of the old
woman, the old woman took hold of the old man, the old
man took hold of the turnip, they pulled and pulled, but
couldn't pull it out. So the cat called the mouse over.
"All right –
said the mouse– I’m coming".
The mouse took hold of the cat, the cat took hold of the
dog, the dog took hold of the granddaughter, the
granddaughter took hold of the old woman, the old woman
took hold of the old man, the old man took hold of the
turnip, they pulled and pulled--and finally pulled out
the turnip!
In Russian, the name "Zhuckha" is
used in place of "dog." Also, the translation
loses all the lyricism of this little tale. In Russian,
the similar words repeated patterns combined to make a
rhythm that is almost a tongue-twister! Transliterated,
the last line of the tale sounds like this:
Myshka za koshku, koshka za Zhuchku, Zhuchka za vnuchku,
vnuchka za babku, babka za dedku, dedka za repku,
tyanut-potyanut--vytyanuli repku!
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Turnip 5-piece
Matryoshka Large (left) £6.95 / Small (right) £5.50
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