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Petőfi Sándor: Johnny Gopher (Arany Lacinak in English)

Portre of Petőfi Sándor

Arany Lacinak (Hungarian)

Laci te,
Hallod-e?
Jer ide,
Jer, ha mondom,
Rontom-bontom,
Ülj meg itten az ölemben,
De ne moccanj, mert különben
Meg talállak csípni,
Igy ni!
Ugye fáj?
Hát ne kiabálj.
Szájadat betedd,
S nyisd ki füledet,
Nyisd ki ezt a kis kaput;
Majd meglátod, hogy mi fut
Rajta át fejedbe...
Egy kis tarka lepke.
Tarka lepke, kis mese,
Szállj be Laci fejibe.

Volt egy ember, nagybajúszos.
Mit csinált? Elment a kúthoz.
De nem volt viz a vederbe',
Kapta magát, telemerte.
És vajon minek
Merítette meg
Azt a vedret?
Tán a kertet
Kéne meglocsolnia?
Vagy ihatnék?... nem biz a.
Telt vederrel a kezében
A mezőre ballag szépen,
Ott megállt és körülnézett;
Ejnye vajon mit szemlélhet?
Tán a fényes délibábot?
Hisz olyat már sokat látott...
Vagy a szomszéd falu tornyát?
Hisz azon meg nem sokat lát...
Vagy tán azt az embert,
Ki amott a kendert
Áztatóba hordja?
Arra sincsen gondja.
Mire van hát?
Ebugattát!
Már csak megmondom, mi végett
Nézi át a mezőséget,
A vizet mért hozta ki?
Ürgét akar önteni.
Ninini:
Ott az ürge.
Hű, mi fürge,
Mint szalad!
Pillanat,
S odabenn van,
Benn a lyukban.
A mi emberünk se' rest,
Odanyargal egyenest
A lyuk mellé,
S beleönté
A veder vizet;
Torkig tele lett.
A szegény kis ürge
Egy darabig türte,
Hanem aztán csak kimászott,
Még az inge is átázott.
A lyuk száján nyakon csipték,
Nyakon csipték, hazavitték,
S mostan...
Itt van...
Karjaimban,
Mert e fürge
Pajkos ürge
Te vagy, Laci, te bizony!

1847



Johnny Gopher (English)

Little Johnny,
do you hear?
Come to me,
come, when I say,
helter-skelter,
sit on on my knee,
but don't you stir,
or otherwise-
I just might nip,
You see, like this!
So, does it hurt?
Well now, don't shout,
but close your mouth
and open wide your ears,
open wide those little doors;
now you'll see, what comes here,
flitting through your little head ...
a butterfly gay.
Gay butterfly, small tale,
flutter into Johnny's head!

Once upon a time there was
a man with a very LARGE moustache,
and what he did is what I'll tell.
He went out to the garden well
and slowly lowered down the pail,
then pulled it up again, brim full;
And what did he draw
the water for?
Perhaps he wanted to spray water
on the thirsty summer flowers?

Or was HE thirsty? . . . no, not really.
TO the nearby field he trudged,
there he stopped and stood and gazed:
what was it he stood gazing at?
Perhaps a castle-in-the-air
that he thought he'd seen before?
Or the neighbouring village church?
_ Perhaps he gazed at nothing much ...
Or perhaps he saw the man
who yonder bundles up the flax,
and soaks it in the retting pit?
He didn't care for these one bit!
Well then, for what?
Rascal I !
Shall I tell you why he gazes,
and the pail of water carries?
He wants to catch a gopher.
Look-
there goes the gopher,
hey, how nimbly
he can scamper!
In a flash,
straight into the hole he's dashed,
over to the hole our man rushed
and poured the water quickly-splash!
The hole was filled up to the brim.
Poor little gopher, poor little thing,
he was soaked right to the skin.
Out he crawled, he'd had enough!

He was caught by the scruff
at the mouth of the hole,
he was caught by the scruff,
and carried off home . . .
and now he is here ...
with me in my chair,
for this frisky,
playful gopher,
is you Johnny, surely!




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