Folksongs. Hob Ikh a Por Oksen, Vos Zay Brokn Lokshn! (I have a pair of oxen..)

Children's rhyming nonsense song in Yiddish, collected and sung by the Yiddish folklorist and singer Ruth Rubin (1906-2000). This selection is from the Ruth Rubin Papers in the YIVO Archives, RG 620. Recorded in the 1950s. A photograph of Ruth Rubin appears below.

I have a pair of oxen

Who chop noodles

Oh wonder of wonders

Oxen chopping noodles,

What a wonder!

I have a pair of bears

Which overturn [everything]

Oh Wonder of Wonders!

I  have a pair of goats

Who rock children [in their cradles]

Oh, Wonder of wonders

I have a pair of dogs

Who make ink

I have a pair of  doves

Who sew bonnets

Wonder of wonders!

Doves sewing bonnets

I  have a pair of hens

Who gather twigs

Wonder if wonders!

Hens who gather twigs

I have a pair of birds

Who bake  bagels

I have a pair of cats

Who make pancakes

Wonder of Wonders!