Moush mousheil...

A Grecesi Nursery Rhyme

Cuzzin Ron Santoro sent us this little nursery rhyme (spelled phonetically) but was not sure what the words meant. He remembered it was Ôa little game played with a baby, holding its hands in yours and alternately sliding its hands down its and your cheeks on the first three lines and tapping the cheeks lightly on the fourth. The one who got tapped on the fourth line usually thought it was lots of fun. ÔBouftonÕ in la Katunsh means to hit -- I got plenty of buftons when I was a kid, none of them deserved, of course, so I knew the meaning of that word pretty well.Õ

          Moush mousheil

          Ghath ghatheil

          Moush moushoh

              Bouftoh, bouftoh, bouftoh.

Cugina Sisina Meola heard it when she was a child too and was able to provide more info and a translation:

The first and third lines refer to the Arbresh words used to call a cat, the first word in the first line is to call an adult cat, the second a kitten.

The words in the second line are dialectal Italian words that mean cat and kitten.

The second word in the third line is to call a bad cat and after that the baby was bitten lightly on the cheeks

The words in the fourth line mean slaps.

Grazie Cugini Ron and Sisina!

11/7/98