We all know the mean-spirited children’s rhyme about Adam and Eve and PinchMe; well, I just discovered (via one of the many detours in Omry Ronen’s An Approach to Mandelstam
Another children’s rhyme Ronen cites (in connection with this poem by Mandelstam, which refers to tram lines “А” and “Б,” the Russian equivalents of A and B) is А и Б сидели на трубе, А упало, Б пропало, что осталось на трубе? [A and B sat on the chimney; A fell off, B disappeared, who was left on the chimney?], the answer to the riddle being и [i] ‘and’—which seems innocuous enough, especially compared with Mandelstam’s grim 1931 poem (“You and I will take the A and B/ to see who will die first”), but googling turned up a variant from 1955 (cited in this book): «А и Б сидели на трубе. А упало, Б пропало, И работал в КГБ» [A and B sat on the chimney; A fell off, B disappeared, I (‘and’) worked for the KGB].
We all know the mean-spirited children’s rhyme about Adam and Eve and PinchMe;
Well, I do now. Thanks for expanding my repertoire, LH.
Always glad to share the cultural wealth!
I love that last one; depending on the victim, a derisive pun is exactly my sense of humour.
The correct response of course is “Huh? Adam and Eve and WHO?” although trying this on a young enough child might result in tears. Maybe. I wouldn’t know.
Not that this is related, but I just came across this on anekdot.ru. The crucial bit is at the end of page 4, and, alas, untranslatable:
slawkenbergius, you’ve made my day, thanks!
A and B rhyme was wide-spread in 80s, I even heard a variation with the kgb theme. An even more common one went like this “New-moon (mesyats) came out of the mist, took a knife out of the pocket, “I will cut you, I will beat you, you’re it”. Never heard the Chapaev one. Doesn’t sound very plausible to me because ‘Chapay’ pronunciation is too far from “Shipay”. Maybe at that time there was a (possibly local) variation of “shipay” pronounced as “chipay”? That’d be close enough.