Paper Bridges: Selected Poems of Kadya Molodowsky

Marzipans

Marzipans Once there were a mother and a father. The mother was fat, The father was thin, And each of their children was shaped like a bean. One child wanted to eat noodles, A second—strudels, And the fastidious girl Ann,56 Wanted nothing but marzipan. No one knew what marzipans are Or how to find marzipan, find near or far. The father said: Marzipans grow on a tree, Just like apples, pears, and plums, you see. The mother said: Marzipans are bought in the store. A sister said: They grow like mushrooms on the forest floor. The old grandmother, bent in two, Said: Marzipans? Fiddlesticks! Untrue! A postman came with a letter to deliver: Ships bring marzipans across the sea, up the river, From a city called Havannah, Where on every tree there grows marzipannah. But no one believed the postman, So he swore with such venom That nobody wanted to see him or hear him. 211 jM^stt m nyr^p ny^y-iDir-a oyi t?xn - pyrrc; mynttf tra twyny} t?xn ny px ,]yT ^ - ?Dj; m ^Ksjnnsa x nx19 x f x ^x^ p t ooy p ijraow Djn oxn •nya Vox19 )x Bttip'o px x rxn x or ps px iy oo^n iixp ps oy oxn iix oy m ]ix H Dxn px y^y px - p^x ,mrpa ,o^n iy Vs H ^n i^xsxn D^X y^x ]yr-n oy^xsyxnx^ H in pxt ny ^XT 212 A shoemaker then arrived with nails and a sole: —Marzipans!—he laughed with his mouth fall— The landlords who eat marzipan are so enormously fat That not one of us could squeeze between them like that!57 And even Rothschild, with his rich mom and dad, Eats marzipan just once a year, it is said. But no one believed the shoemaker, So he swore with such venom That nobody wanted to see him or hear him. An uproar began—Marzipan here, Marzipan there, Then a door opened And in came Yosl-Bear. Yosl-Bear must have been heaven-sent, what a man! He knew where rye grows, and which grain is bran, And where hares rest their feet, And what the bears eat. And what the birds think, And where rivers run. He knew all the cities and states in America In short, he knew everything under the sun. Everyone fell upon him like flies, Asking him to tell where marzipan lies. And Yosl-Bear, being such a clown, Winked at Ann, one eye up, one eye down: Just look here, you see! Such a fine girl, this Ann! Wants nothing other than a marzipan! 213 ,fi x lmjn ]jmjn ixi rx nya ^oar px !ot?jn ,-ixi ODVT :]nx H tra pin ix ny t^tsrs ixi xprn *rn - mn x ,XTX n o x - DXDW x XT rx'o rj Dixi oyixsyxix^ p^V Tx ^ n ttxtw H »ow n oy ^1 ixi ,-no TT XI n i^x IJWIJ? px px injrs "jx iis x ^ x ,nx^ T I xn px .lyoxii ^ x p px vinn x p-nx wi ]?w oxn :nin ypy j V S ,nx:* TI XI X15 7 T •XD-XD-XD pX ! x rx yixsysixn x - ]TP1K IX pX D^X BpXl ]ya ]1X ,mn x ,XTX Tin x px •|n» oyajr fw ojni oy x mx ,rmn-"p |ix H t?xn; o tt DXDt^ J«1K1 H T'X fX 214 So listen, there is a city— Where marzipans lie on golden plates, very pretty, But I've forgotten what they call this city. Then everyone laughed at the fastidious Ann: —Here, dear, you're craving a marzipan. And its inhabitants are lazy jokers Who sit all day and poke with pokers.58 Then everyone laughed at the fastidious Ann: —Here, dear, you're craving a marzipan. And the people there ride in vehicles That move without horses and without any wheels. Then everyone laughed at the fastidious Ann: —Here, dear, you're craving a marzipan. And suddenly Yosl-Bear himself burst out laughing, Ha-ha-ha, and ha-ha-ha . . . A marzipan is just a little cookie, And it's baked in an oven, Believe Yosl-Bear, and you'll be lucky. And such a little girl as Ann Who rolls up her sleeves to her...