Di Grine Kuzine 

Chane Mlotek version J. Leiserowitz / Hyman Prizant music A Schwartz

Es iz tsu mir gekumen a kuzine                    A cousin came to me

Sheyn vi gold iz zi geven, di grine                Lovely as gold she was, the greenhorn

Di bekelekh vi royte pomerantsn                  Cheeks like rosy oranges

Fiselekh vos betn zikh tsum tantsn              Feet begging to dance

Nit gegangn iz zi – nor geshprungen          She didn’t walk, she leaped

Nit geredt hot zi – nor gezungen                 She didn’t speak, she sang

Freylekh, lustik iz geven ir mine                  Happy, merry was her manner

Ot aza geven iz mayn kuzine                       That’s how my cousin was.

Ikh bin arayn tsu mayn “nekst – dorke”     I went to my next-door-neighbour

Vos zi hot a “milineri – storke”                  Who had a millinery store

A “dzhab” gekrogn dort far mayn kuzine      I got a job there for my cousin

Az lebn zol di goldene medine!                    Long live the gold land!

Avek zaynen fun demolt on shoyn yorn     From that time, several years went by

Fun mayn kuzine iz a tel gevorn                  My cousin became a ruin

“Pey-deyz” yorn lang hot zi geklibn             Pay-days took their toll

Biz fun ir aleyn iz nisht geblibn                   Until there wasn’t much left of her

Unter ire bloye sheyne oygn                         Under her blue, pretty eyes

Shvartse pasn hobn zikh fartsoygn               Black bags gathered

Di bekelekh, di royte pomerantsn                 Those cheeks, those rosy oranges

Hobn zikh shoyn oysgegrint in gantsn           Turned green completely

Haynt, az ikh bagegn mayn kuzine              Now when I meet my cousin

Un ikh freg zi : Vos-zhe makhstu, grine?      And I ask her : How’s it going, greenhorn?

Entfert zi mir mit a krumer mine:                  She answers me with a scowl

Az brenen zol Kolumbuses medine!              To hell with Columbus’s land!