The Crooked Man

There was a crooked man,

And he walked a crooked mile,

He found a crooked sixpence

Against a crooked stile;

He bought a crooked cat,

Which caught a crooked cat,

And they all lived together

In a little crooked house.

                        Folk poetry

  Кривоногий человек

Жил на свете человек,

Скрюченные ножки,

И гулял он целый век

По скрюченной дорожке.

    А за скрюченной рекой

    В скрюченном домишке

    Жили летом и зимой

    Скрюченные мышки.

И стояли у ворот

Скрюченные елки.

Там гуляли без забот

Скрюченные волки.

    И была у них одна

    Скрюченная кошка,

    И мяукала она.

    Сидя у окошка.

                            К.Чуковский

     Кривой человечек

Жил-был человечек кривой на мосту.

Прошел он однажды кривую версту.

И вдруг на пути меж камней мостовой

Нашел потускневший полтинник

                                                      кривой.

Купил на полтинник кривую он кошку, А кошка кривую нашла ему мышку.

И так они жили втроем понемножку,

Покуда не рухнул кривой их домишко.

                                        С. Маршак

•  Little Nancy Etticoat

With a white petticoat,

And a red nose;

She has no feet or hands,

The longer she stands

The longer she grows.

•  He went to the wood and

                              caught it,

He sat him down and

                              sought it;

Because he couldn’t find it, Home with him

                       he brought it.

•  Three wise men of  

                                    Gotham

Went to sea in a bowl;

If the bowl had been stronger,

My story would have been

                                 longer.

•  Gilly Silly Jarter,

She lost her garter,

In a shower of rain.

The miller found it,

The miller ground it,

And the miller gave it

                      to Silly again.

A man in the wilderness asked me,

How many strawberries grow in the sea.

I answered him,

                as I thought good,

As many red herrings as swim in the wood

Doctor Floster went to

                            Gloucester

In a shower of rain;

He stepped in a puddle,

Right up in its middle,

And never went there again.

As I went to Bonner,

I met a pig

Without a wig,

Apon my word and honour.

Pussy-cat, Pussy-cat,

Where have you been?

I’ve been to London

To look at the queen.

Pussy-cat, Pussy-cat,

What did you there?

I frightened a little mouse

Under her chair.

Три мудреца в

                    одном тазу

Пустипись по морю

                            в грозу.

Будь попрочнее

                    старый таз,

Длиннее был бы

                   мой рассказ.

Джени туфлю потеряла,

Долго плакала, искала.

Мельник туфельку

                          нашел,

И на мельнице смолол.

Тонкая девчонка,

Белая юбчонка,

Красный нос.

Чем длиннее ночи,

Тем она короче

От горючих слез.

На чистом поле на ходу

Я нашел себе еду –

Не мясо, не рыба,

Не хлеб и не сало,

Но скоро еда от меня убежала.

A man in the wilderness asked me,

How many strawberries grow in the sea.

I answered him,

                as I thought good,

As many red herrings as swim in the wood

Doctor Floster went to

                            Gloucester

In a shower of rain;

He stepped in a puddle,

Right up in its middle,

And never went there again.

As I went to Bonner,

I met a pig

Without a wig,

Apon my word and honour.

Pussy-cat, Pussy-cat,

Where have you been?

I’ve been to London

To look at the queen.

Pussy-cat, Pussy-cat,

What did you there?

I frightened a little mouse

Under her chair.

A man in the wilderness asked me,

How many strawberries grow in the sea.

I answered him,

                as I thought good,

As many red herrings as swim in the wood

Doctor Floster went to

                            Gloucester

In a shower of rain;

He stepped in a puddle,

Right up in its middle,

And never went there again.

As I went to Bonner,

I met a pig

Without a wig,

Apon my word and honour.

Pussy-cat, Pussy-cat,

Where have you been?

I’ve been to London

To look at the queen.

Pussy-cat, Pussy-cat,

What did you there?

I frightened a little mouse

Under her chair.

A man in the wilderness asked me,

How many strawberries grow in the sea.

I answered him,

               as I thought good,

As many red herrings as swim in the wood

Doctor Floster went to

                            Gloucester

In a shower of rain;

He stepped in a puddle,

Right up in its middle,

And never went there again.

As I went to Bonner,

I met a pig

Without a wig,

Apon my word and honour.

Pussy-cat, Pussy-cat,

Where have you been?

I’ve been to London

To look at the queen.

Pussy-cat, Pussy-cat,

What did you there?

I frightened a little mouse

Under her chair.

A man in the wilderness asked me,

How many strawberries grow in the sea.

I answered him,

                 as I thought good,

As many red herrings as swim in the wood

Doctor Floster went to

                            Gloucester

In a shower of rain;

He stepped in a puddle,

Right up in its middle,

And never went there again.

As I went to Bonner,

I met a pig

Without a wig,

Apon my word and honour.

Pussy-cat, Pussy-cat,

Where have you been?

I’ve been to London

To look at the queen.

Pussy-cat, Pussy-cat,

What did you there?

I frightened a little mouse

Under her chair.

A man in the wilderness asked me,

How many strawberries grow in the sea.

I answered him,

                 as I thought good,

As many red herrings as swim in the wood

Doctor Floster went to

                            Gloucester

In a shower of rain;

He stepped in a puddle,

Right up in its middle,

And never went there again.

As I went to Bonner,

I met a pig

Without a wig,

Apon my word and honour.

Pussy-cat, Pussy-cat,

Where have you been?

I’ve been to London

To look at the queen.

Pussy-cat, Pussy-cat,

What did you there?

I frightened a little mouse

Under her chair.

A man in the wilderness asked me,

How many strawberries grow in the sea.

I answered him,

                 as I thought good,

As many red herrings as swim in the wood

Doctor Floster went to

                            Gloucester

In a shower of rain;

He stepped in a puddle,

Right up in its middle,

And never went there again.

As I went to Bonner,

I met a pig

Without a wig,

Apon my word and honour.

Pussy-cat, Pussy-cat,

Where have you been?

I’ve been to London

To look at the queen.

Pussy-cat, Pussy-cat,

What did you there?

I frightened a little mouse

Under her chair.

The Little woman and the Pedlar

There was a little woman, as I have heard tell,

She went to market her eggs for to sell;

She went to the market all on a market day,

And she fell asleep on the king’s highway.

There came by a pedlar, his name was Stout,

He cut her petticoats all round about;

He cut her petticoats up to her knees;

Which made the little woman to shiver and sneeze.

When this little woman began to awake,

She began to shiver, and she began to shake.

She began to shake, and she began to cry,

‘Lawk a mercy on me, this is none of I!

But if this be I, as I do hope to be,

I have a little dog at home and he knows me;

If it be I, he’ll wag his little tail,

And if it be not I he’ll loudly bark and wail!”

Home went the little woman all in the dark,

Up starts the little dog, and he began to bark;

He began to bark, and she began to cry,

“‘Lawk a mercy on me, this is none of I!”

Сказка о старушке

Старушка пошла продавать молоко,

Деревня от рынка была далеко.

Устала старушка и, кончив дела,

У самой дороги вздремнуть прилегла.

К старушке веселый щенок подошел,

За юбку схватил и порвал ей подол.

Погода была в это время свежа.

Старушка проснулась, от стужи дрожа.

Проснулась старушка и стала искать

Домашние туфли, свечу и кровать.

Но, порванной юбки ощупав края, сказала:

“Ах, батюшки, это не я!

Пойду-ка домой. Если это не Я,

Меня не укусит собака моя.

Она меня встретит, визжа, у ворот,

А если не я – на куски разорвет”.

В окно постучала старушка чуть свет.

Залаяла громко собака в ответ.

Старушка присела, сама не своя,

И тихо сказала: “Ну, значит не Я!”

                                                     С. Маршак