JAN 30, singable satire: "BABEL-TALKY", multilingual Jabberwocky

 

PASTICHE with SONG-LYRICS

ORIGINAL POEM: "Jabberwocky" was included in Lewis Carroll's  children's novel "Through the Looking Glass" in 1871, although he had published a short variation of it much earlier as "Stanza of Anglo-Saxon Poetry"
SETTING TO MUSIC: Donovan, 1971.

TRANSLATION INTO OTHER LANGUAGES: Renditions of the classic nonsense poem in various languages can be found in a collection of translations into 29 other languages on the web, although the site appears to have been inactive recently.
COLLATION: Giorgio Coniglio 2014, updated 2016.

To find ukulele and guitar chord-charts to help you accompany "BABEL-TALKY" on your favorite instrument, click HERE.

A major tip of the hat to Mike Simmons and John Colosetti for helping find usable ukelele chords.

BABEL-TALKY

 (to the the tune of "Jabberwocky" - Donovan)

(ANGLO-SAXON - Lewis Carroll, 1855)

'Twas bryllyg, and ye slythy toves

Did gyre and gymble in ye wabe.

All mimsy were ye borogoves,

And ye mome raths outgrabe.

(GERMAN - Robert Scott)

"Bewahre doch vor Jammerwoch!

Die Zähne knirschen, Krallen kratzen!

Bewahr' vor JubJub-Vogel, vor

Frumiösen Banderschnatchen.   

(ITALIAN - Adriana Crespi)

Afferò quello la sua vorpi da lama

A lungo il manson nemico cercò

Cosí sostò presso l'albero Touton

E riflettendo alquanto dimorò.  

(FRENCH - Frank Warrin)

Pendant qu'il pense, tout uffusé,

Le Jaseroque, à l'oeil flambant,

Vient sifflant par le bois tullegeais,

Et burbule en venant.    

(JAPANESE - Tim Matheson)

Ichi, ni! Ichi, ni! mattaku kanzen ni 

Sakisakiken wa kusukusu waratta  

Shanoshi nokoshi kubi wo mochi

Ikiyouyou to koke kaetta 

(HEBREW - Ahaton Amir)

"Af ketalto, et hapiton?

Achabkecha, yaldi hatzach!

Ho yom-tzilha! Yabah! yabah!"

B'chedvato  patzach. 

(PORTUGUESE - Augusto de Campos)

Era briluz. as lesmolisas touvas

roldavam e reviam nos gramilvos:

Estavam mimsicais as pintalouvas,

E os mommiratos davam grilvos.

(RUSSIAN - E. Orlova and O. Demurova)

Varkalos'. Khivikie shor'ki
Pyryalis' po nave,

I khryukotali zelyuki
Kak myumziki v move.

(SPANISH  - E. Alvarez-Buylla)

Era el briño, y los logrosos

Giraban y mangaban en al panal:

Tan debrable los bogrosos,

Y aún los rantopos salgabran.

(ARABIC - W. Al-Mahdi)

Jarâdhilu l-wâbi dhuhâ

Tadarbahat tadarbuhâ

Mufarfirun tanahnaha
Wa tâ'iru  l-burburi fahâ.

(CLASSIC - Lewis Carroll, 1871)

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe.

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.