Mein Tochterl, awu hāst du dorten gesessen?
Auf a Bank,
Kēinmāl nit geramt,
Mutter du liebe, du meine!
Mein' Tochter, awu hāst du dorten geschlāfen?
Auf der Erd,
Kēinmāl nit gekehrt, etc.
Tochterulu, wās hāt män dir gegeben zu Koppen?
A Säckele Hēu,
In Harzen is' wēh, etc.
Tochterulu, in wās hāt män dir geführt?
In kowanem Wāgen,
Mit Eisen beschlāgen, etc.
Tochterl, über wās hāt män dir geführt?
Über a Brück',
Kēinmāl nit zurück, etc.
Tochterulu, mit wās hāt män dir geführt?
Mit a Ferd,
Jung in der Erd',
Mutter du liebe, du meine!
My daughter, where have you been?—At mother-in-law's and father-in-law's, who growls like a bear, mother dear, mother mine!—My daughter, where did you sit there?—Upon a bench never cleaned, mother dear, mother mine!—My daughter, where did you sleep there?—Upon the ground, never swept, etc.—Daughter dear, what did they lay under your head?—A bag of hay, in my heart there is a pain, etc.—Daughter dear, in what did they drive you?—In a wagon covered with iron bands, etc.—Daughter dear, over what did they lead you?—Over a bridge, never back, etc.—Daughter dear, with what did they drive you?—With a horse, young into the earth, mother dear, mother mine!
Equally pathetic are the songs that sing of widowhood. This is a far more common occurrence among Jews than among other people and causes much greater inconveniences to the helpless woman. It is caused either by the natural occurrences of death or by self-assumed exile to escape military service which is naturally not to the tastes of the Jew, as we shall see later, or frequently by ruthless abandonment. This latter case is the result of early marriages in which the contracting parties are not considered as to their tastes; often the young man finds awakening in himself an inclination for higher, Gentile, culture, but he finds his path impeded by the ties of family and the gross interests of his consort. If he can, he gets a divorce from her, but more frequently he leaves her without further ado, escaping to Germany or America to pursue his studies. His wife is made an Agune, a grass-widow, who, according to the Mosaic law, may not marry again until his death has been duly certified to:
Auf'n Barg stēht a Täubele,
Sie thut mit ihr Pāar brummen,
Ich hāb' geha't a guten Freund
Un' kann zu ihm nit kummen.
Bächen Trähren thuen sich
Vun meine Äugen rinnen,
Ich bin geblieben wie a Spändele
Auf dem Wasser schwimmen.