Collection Information: Naar Bed, Naar Bed was collected on April 20th, 2014 in Culver, Indiana. It belongs to a sub-genre of nursery rhymes called fingerplay.
Informant: The informant was Mily Hubeny, a 58 year old mother and accountant who was born in the Netherlands. She lived there while she was young, and learned to speak Dutch fluently. When she was in grade school, her family moved to the United States. In college, she studied Germanic Languages, and is still fluent in German, Dutch, and English. She works as an accountant, and has one son who recently graduated college.
Text (in Dutch):
Naar bed, Naar bed zei Duimelot (wiggle thumb)
Eerst nog wat eten zei Likkepot (wiggle pointer finger)
Waar zal ik het halen zei Lange Lot (wiggle middle finger)
Uit grootvaders kastje zei Ringeling (wiggle ring finger)
Dat zal ik verklappen zei ‘t Kleine Ding! (wiggle pinky finger)
Transliteration:
naar bet naar bet tsai dow-muh-lot
ear-st noog wat eight-en tsai lick-eh-pot
waar zal ick het all-en tsai long-eh-lot
out grout fah-ders cost-yeh tsai ring-eh-ling
dat zal ick fer-klop-en tsai clay-nah ding
Translation:
To bed, to bed, said the thumb (wiggle thumb)
First, I want a snack said the pointer finger (wiggle pointer finger)
Where will I get it? said the middle finger (wiggle middle finger)
From grandfather’s cabinet said the ring finger (wiggle ring finger)
That will get you a spanking! said the little finger! (wiggle pinky finger)
Context: This fingerplay nursery rhyme is usually performed by a mother or father while they are putting their child to bed. The informant recalled that her parents would sing it to her when she was going to sleep when she was little, and then when she became a mother herself, she performed it when trying to get her son to go to sleep, even though he did not understand dutch.
Meaning and Interpretation: The informant just viewed this piece of folklore as a fun, silly way to help put a child to bed. She thought that the infantile voice used and the wiggling of fingers was a good way to entertain children and calm them down. Additionally, however, the piece can be viewed as a reminder that when it is time for bed, it is not a time for mischief. Perhaps it was a subconscious warning to deter bad behavior. It is also interesting to note that whenever this piece was composed, children were punished for misbehavior through physical violence such as spanking, which is inappropriate in today’s world.
Collector’s Information: Chris Faulkner, Dartmouth ’14, Russian 13, Professor Mikhail Gronas, Spring 2014
