Parsley (Lady Rose)
Translation details
Model:mistral-large-2512.Translated text
Section titled “Translated text”A game for urban and rural children, widespread in Poland under various names (Lady Rose, Turnip, Beetroot, Carrot); suitable for children’s gardens and primary schools.
a) Cracovian version: “The oldest girl — Lady Rose” — sits on the ground with legs stretched out. Between her knees sits another child, and so on, and they encircle each other with their arms, each taking the name of a vegetable. To the side, a boy — the “messenger” (sometimes accompanied by his “master,” “parson” 1.1, etc.) — approaches the one sitting at the front, knocks on their head three times, and asks: — Where is Lady Rose? — There, further behind me. — He then asks the next one, and so on, until he reaches her; then he asks: — Are you Lady Rose? — I am; what do you need? — I was sent by my master for celery (carrot, etc.). If such a vegetable is among those sitting, Lady Rose points to it, and the messenger drags it out from among its companions (despite resistance) and sets it aside, announcing to the “master” that he has received the requested plant. If it is not there, but the messenger insists it should be, Lady Rose says: — Dig up the old man from the end, Don’t spoil my young horse. — The messenger then goes to the one sitting at the front and, pretending to dig with a stick beside them: — Dig, dig! Is the peasant here? = I can’t dig him out, I must take off my cap! — Then he throws his cap, grabs the child by the legs, strikes one leg against the other (as if cleaning roots of soil), shakes them all over, and drags them despite their resistance and that of the entire chain. When he tears them away, he throws them aside and reports to the master. If the chain breaks in another place, the messenger jumps there and tears away some child, while the others gather “into a heap” and “back” to bind the chain. This continues until Lady Rose is reached. Then the game ends.
b) Kuyavian version: The setup is as in a), except the children sitting before Lady Rose are not “vegetables” but “geese.” The messenger walks around and knocks: — Knock small, knock big, Where does Lady Rose live? — Here nearby. — Finally, he receives the answer: — I am. — Then he announces: — Madam, there are geese in the garden, at your expense! — Then drive them out on one (two… five) leg(s) (on five means on all fours and head). — Having gone through the entire row in the prescribed posture, the messenger haggles over a goose: — Over the plank or the ladder? — and, depending on the answer, drags it out by the legs or by the head and sets it aside. Having redeemed all the geese from Lady Rose in this way, he invites her for coffee. She excuses herself, saying that dogs or wolves will bite her 1, etc.); finally, she agrees. Then he sets all the geese upon her; the caught Lady Rose replaces the messenger in the next game.
Source scan: Kujawsko-Pomorska Digital Library, marked “Public Domain.” See PDF — page 167.
Metadata
Section titled “Metadata”- Type: game
- Traits: Not stated in the source
- Source: Eugeniusz Piasecki, Zabawy i gry ruchowe dzieci i młodzieży (1922)
- Printed pages: 162–164 / PDF 167–169
- Digital edition: Digital edition · Source record
- Open the edition at the relevant page: p. 162
- Read the source text: zgr-093