{"id":10310,"date":"2007-02-20T08:47:17","date_gmt":"2007-02-20T15:47:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2007\/02\/20\/lullaby.html"},"modified":"2007-02-20T08:47:17","modified_gmt":"2007-02-20T15:47:17","slug":"lullaby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/02\/20\/lullaby.html","title":{"rendered":"Lullaby"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/div>\n

Whilst slowly getting Stuff migrated back into the Office\/Guest Room, I ran across a July 2000 e-mail from my mom. I’d inquired about an old Italian lullaby she’d sung me when I was a kid (presumably passed down through the family). She knew only the phonetics for it (per the e-mail), but was going to ask Nona. <\/p>\n

I don’t know if she did, but that inspired me to see if I<\/em> could do some quick Internet research and figure out (a) what the song was, and (b) what it meant. <\/p>\n

After a lot of digging, I came up with a small list of sources for lullabies (in Italian, Ninna Nanna<\/em> songs, which is also a reference to nursery rhymes) that were close to what I remembered. <\/p>\n

This one<\/a>‘s the closest: <\/p>\n

\n

Nanna cuneta<\/em>
\n
\nLa mamma \u00e8 andata a messa
\n
\nPap\u00e0 l’\u00e8 andato ai campi
\n
\nCoi cavallini bianchi
\nBianca \u00e8 la sella
\n
\nViva la bimba bella! <\/em> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Which translates, very<\/em> roughly (I don’t speak Italian, except for a couple of vulgarities): <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Nanna cuneta<\/em>
\n
\nMama has gone to church.
\nPapa has gone to the fields
\nWith little white horses
\nThe saddle is white
\nLong live the beautiful baby.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A couple of things. First off, most annoyingly, I can’t find an online translator to translate cuneta<\/em>. It might be cunetta<\/em>, but that means “bump” and I can’t quite make that work. In Spanish it means gutter, but … I would think it’s a mistaken spelling here — but it’s off a freaking Italian website, so … <\/p>\n

Also, the last two lines weren’t part of the lullaby that was sung to us. Instead, after the bianchi<\/em> we got a soothing sing-song: <\/p>\n

Nanna, nanna<\/em>,
\nMm-mmm, Mm-mmm …<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Nanna<\/em> meams “sleep,” by the way. <\/p>\n

Now, there’s a similar lullaby<\/a> I also found: <\/p>\n

\n

Nanna culletta
\nla mamma \u00e8 andata a messa
\nil pap\u00e0 \u00e8 andato a Torino
\na comprare un burattino.<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In this case, Mama is still going to Mass, but Papa is going to Turin to buy … a puppet? Culletta <\/em>is interesting here — culetta<\/em> (one L) would be a female donkey, but more likely it’s related to the verb cullare<\/em>, to cradle or rock (i.e., “Sleep, cradled one”). <\/p>\n

There’s also this little ditty<\/a>: <\/p>\n

\n

Tut\u00f9 tut\u00f9 musseta,
\n
\nla mamma \u00e8 andata a messa,
\nil pap\u00e0 \u00e8 andato nei campi
\ncon tre cavalli bianchi;
\nbianca la sella,
\nbianca la gonnella,
\nbianco il girasole,
\nprendi un po’ di sole;
\nsole, solicello,
\ncasca gi\u00f9 l’anello;
\npesca e ripesca
\nho preso un pesciolino
\nvestito di turchino! <\/em> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Note lines 2-4. Mama’s going to church (again), and Papa’s going to the fields\/countryside (some more) — but the phrase Pap\u00e0 \u00e8 andato nei campi <\/em>is actually closer to the phonetic transliteration my mom did of the song than Pap\u00e0 l’\u00e8 andato ai campi <\/em>— and more importantly, I’m sure (and the transliteration agrees) that “my” version had con tre cavalli bianchi <\/em>(“with three white horses”) rather than coi cavallini bianchi.<\/em> <\/p>\n

Given the linguistic diversity up and down the Italian peninsula, it doesn’t surprise me to find such an array of the same imagery expressed in parallel (but not identical) language. <\/p>\n

So aside from an inability to learn what cuneta<\/em> means, I think I have my lullaby: <\/p>\n

\n

Nanna cuneta,
\nLa mamma \u00e8 andata a messa,
\n
\nPap\u00e0 \u00e8 andato nei campi
\ncon tre cavalli bianchi,
\nNanna, nanna,
\nMmmmm, Mmmmm …<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Whilst slowly getting Stuff migrated back into the Office\/Guest Room, I ran across a July 2000 e-mail from my mom. 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