"Hissy hissy, little snakey" (Book 6)
This little ditty, which starts out in a way reminiscent of 'Twinkle, twinkle, little star', was crooned by Morfin in Parseltongue at Book 6 Chapter 10.
English
Hissy hissy, little snakey, |
'Be good or...' is a point to look for in the translation.
Simplified Chinese (China)
嘶嘶，嘶嘶，蛇宝宝， |
Sīsī, sīsī, shé-bǎobǎo, Kuài kuài zài dì-shàng pá-guòlái, Nǐ yào duì Mòfēn tèbié hǎo, Bùrán jiù bǎ nǐ dìng zài dàmén wài. |
As in other cases, the Mainland version even rhymes!
The imperative 'be good' becomes 你要 nǐ yào, roughly 'you shall' or 'you must'. The ditty makes it clear that the snake must be good to Morfin (对莫芬 duì Mòfēn). This is followed by 不然就 bùrán jiù 'otherwise...'.
Traditional Chinese (Taiwan)
嘶，嘶，小小蛇， |
Sī, sī, xiǎo xiǎo shé, Zài dì-shàng mànmàn huá, Nǐ yào guāiguāi tīng Mófèn de huà, Fǒuzé tā huì bǎ nǐ dìng shàng mén. |
A slight attempt at rhyme in lines 2 and 3?
'Be good or...' is similar to the Mainland version, 你要 Nǐ yào 'you should'. However, for 'be good' it uses 乖乖 guāiguāi, a term habitually used when admonishing children to 'be good'. The meaning is something like 'docile, obedient'. This is followed by 否则 fǒuzé 'or else, otherwise'.
Japanese
| シュー、シューとかわいい蛇よ クーネ、クーネと床に這え モーフィンさまの機嫌取れ 戸口に釘づけされぬよう |
Shū, shū to kawaii hebi yo Kūne kūne to toko ni hae Mōfin-sama no kigen tore Toguchi ni kugi-zuke sarenu yō |
For 'Be good or...', the Japanese uses a direct imperative 機嫌取れ kigen tore 'be nice to', with the implication of 'put Morphin on your good side' or 'put Morphin in a good mood'. This is followed by the construction されぬよう sarenu yō meaning 'so that you won't...'
Vietnamese
| Rít đi, rít đi, rắn nhí, Trườn trên sàn Mi hãy biết điều với Morfin Nếu không hắn đóng đinh mày lên cửa. |
No rhyme in the Vietnamese.
The 'Be good or...' construction begins with mi hãy 'you should', followed by nếu không 'otherwise', similar in meaning to 不然 bùrán and 否則 fǒuzé in the Chinese.
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