Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 7.010 May 28, 1997 1) Viglid (Abraham Brumberg) 2) "Mayn Totb" (Abraham Brumberg) 3) Mameloshn (Sylvia Schildt) 4) Vos heyst dos shemeritsi? (Claus Buryn) 5) Serebriani's study of Menakhem-Mendl (Louis Fridhandler) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 26 May 97 06:17:20 EDT From: 102142.2545@compuserve.com Subject: Viglid tsi veyst efsher emertser ver iz der mekhaber fun folgndikn viglid, un agev urkhe oykh der kompzitor? shlof may zun, shlof mayn sheyner, ayle liuleniu. ver iz dayn tate veyst nit keyner-- nit ikh un nit du. keyner, keyner hot im nit gezen, fintster, fintster iz di nakht geven. kuk nit , freg nik, zun-- me megt nit, shlof a zisn shlof. ven du vest a groyser vern, takhshid mayner, du, vestu fun dayn papa klern-- vu iz er, avu? keyne, keyner hot im nit gezen-- (un azoy vayter) fun khaloymes, beyze, ver poter, shlof a ruikn shlof. s'vet nokh kumen oyf dayn foter a gerekhte shtrof. keyner, keyner...etc. Abraham Brumberg 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 26 May 97 06:17:20 EDT From: 102142.2545@compuserve.com Subject: "Mayn Toyb" tsi veyst emetser al pi tsufal very iz derf mekhaber funm lid 'mayn toyb,' un vos zaynen di iberike shures? ikh ken nor di ershe tsvey: mayn toyb,mayn toyb, man shney-vayse toyb, ikh red tsu dir-- un du bist toyb. Abraham Brumberg 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 26 May 1997 22:29:09 +0100 From: creativa@charm.net Subject: Mameloshn endlekh -- an el-post af mame loshn - yasher koyekh vera szabo [7.009]! un mendele review! ikh bet bay di mentshn vos kenen shraybn af yidish az zey zoln zikh nit shemen. es iz vikhtik - vayl az me shraybt nor af english, kumt oys az me bahandlt yidish vi es volt sheyn geven nokh der levaye. un ikh bin ersht tzurik fun mame loshn vu es zaynen baygeven hunderter libhober fun yidish. es hot zikh geton af tish un af benk! a dank di redaktzie. sylvia schildt baltimore, maryland 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 27 May 1997 17:42:24 +0200 From: troia@worldaccess.nl Subject: Vos heyst dos shemeritsi? Vos heyst dos shemeritsi? Der kashe: Vos iz di etimologie fun 'shemeritsi'? (fun Sholem Aleykhem. Motl Peysi dem Khazns, Kapitel 10, A gas nist). Der proshek iz roytlekh un tseribn din, wi shmek-tabek. Rufn ruft zikh es "shemeritsi" - Wos heyst dos shemeritsi? - Terkisher fefer? - Wos heyst dos terkisher fefer? Af English: 'Hellebore'.Af Holendish 'Nieskruid" (Nis-kroyt)= Helleborus (nisht Engl. 'Sneeze-weed' = Helenium autumnale). Tshkhi! Tsu gezunt! Claus Buryn 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 27 May 1997 16:40:28 -0400 (EDT) From: Lfridhan@aol.com Subject: Serebriani's study of Menakhem-Mendl Farshteyt zikh az do redt men fun Sholem-Aleykhem's Menakhem-Mendl. Here, it's understood that I mean Sholem Aleichem's Menakhem-Mendl. I refer to _Tsu der Geshikhte fun a Kunst-Verk: Vegn Sholem-Aleykhem's Arbet iber Menakhem-Mendl, fun Yisroel Serebriani, Sovetish Heymland, 6:139-146, 1966. Serebriani mentions the impression that Sholem Aleichem wrote quickly, without a self-critical attitude, that is, carelessly. He then proceeds to document the care that Sholem Aleichem took over at least 18 years to revise and hone his writing on Menakhem-Mendl to produce that enduringly famous literary creation. As with Tevye, Sholem Aleichem does not describe him. Menakhem-Mendl's own words describe him. Serebriani quotes a passage by Mendele that expresses in a delightful, ironic tone, the idea that Sholem Aleichem produced literature without effort. (Farshteyt zikh, ikh meyn Mendele Moykher Sforim un nisht keyn ander Mendele.) The quotation: Ikh, az ikh fartrakht epes tsu shraybn, tsu vemen bin ikh farglikhn? Tsu a yidene vos fargeyt in trogn. Oy, di tsar fun trogn, me zol nor bahit un bashiremt vern derfun! Fun dem gedank aleyn, az ikh darf zikh avekzetsn shraybn, vert mir shoyn nit gut... dernokh heybt zikh on a sedre fun trakhtenishn, iberklerenishn, tsuherenishn tsu dem vos kumt for inevenik... muz men shoyn zitsn in gehakte vundn farshpart bay zikh in kamer... Nu, az es kumen shoyn di geburtsveyen, di emese khevley leydo, iz dokh nit shayekh tsu dertseyln... Ir shpilt zikh epes mit a kimpetorn az zi geyt tsu kind? Bay Sholem-Aleykhemen kumt for di zelbe geshikhte gants andersh. Es dreyt zikh um a hun ibern shtub, kvoket epes far zikh a lidl, pikt-pikt, a pik do, a pik dort, un eyder ir kukt zikh um, hot zi zikh shoyn tsugezetst ergets in a vinkele - - aha! Geleygt an ey! My English translation: When I conceive an idea to write something, to whom am I to be compared? To a pregnant woman. Oh, the anguish of carrying, may we be protected and sheltered from that! Just the thought of having to sit down and write makes me feel ill. Then begin the deliberations, thinking it over back and forth, listening closely to what comes from inside; and so one must then sit and suffer salt in the wounds in the loneliness of one's room. Well, when the birth pangs come, the true pains of childbirth, my, my, it cannot be described. Do you think giving birth is child's play? With Sholem Aleichem the same story evolves in quite another way. A hen wanders about the house, cackles a little song to herself, pecks and pecks, a peck here, a peck there, and before you look around, she has already sat herself down somewhere in a little corner - - aha! Laid an egg! By "laid an egg," Mendele was not using our show business slang (failed embarrassingly). He meant, of course, "Produced a gem!" From this example we have a glimpse of how Sholem Aleichem's gift for irony was encouraged by Mendele's lead. Serebriani devotes most of the article to listing and discussing the various changes Sholem Aleichem made over the years in his Menakhem-Mendl, Sheyne- Sheyndl letter exchanges. He makes the case that Sholem Aleichem accepted Mendele's advice to hone his work, file it down. The article is well worth a look. Louis Fridhandler ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 7.010