Čížečku, čížečku
Čížečku, čížečku ("Siskin, o Little Siskin") is a traditional Czech children's folk song and a singing game which was performed in the past as an annual custom supposed to enhance the yield of poppy.[1]
The song is a chain of verses of the same pattern of call and response:
- Call:
- "Siskin, o little Siskin, a little birdie,
- Tell me o Siskin how the poppy is sown"
- Response:
- This is how the poppies are sowed (repeated, with variations)
In Czech language:
- Čížečku, čížečku, ptáčku maličký,
- pověz mi čížečku, jak sejou mák?
- Aj tak, tak sejou mák, aj tak, tak sejou mák,
- aj tak, tak sejou mák, tak sejou mák.
The call/response are repeated, with the verb "sown" being replaced with other events with the poppies: "grows", "blossoms", "is harvested", "is milled" (option: "crushed"), "is eaten". With every response the children are supposed to show a pantomime how exactly the poppy is sowed, grows,..., eaten.
It may also be arranged in the form of a dance.[2]
See also
References
- ^ Antonín Václavík, "Výroční obyčeje a lidové umění", Československé akademie věd (Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences), 1959, p. 67
- ^ Tanečky: #20. ČÍŽEČKU, ČÍŽEČKU (accessed January 21, 2014)
External links
- Čížečku, čížečku , a Czech TV webpage (with video)
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