Poem: "Seichel v'a Katz"
This poem came out of the January 7, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by kestrels_nest. It also fills the "I May Be Wrong" square in my 1-1-25 card for the Public Domain Day Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by Dreamwidth user Fuzzyred. It belongs to the series Clay of Life.
"Seichel v'a Katz"
Menachem and Yossele
returned to Chelm to see
how the village was doing.
It was overrun with rats.
Perhaps that should
be no surprise, since
Amnon the golem spent
most of his time lying
in the road instead
of doing actual work.
Yenta's twin sons,
Shlemiel the clumsy and
Shlimazl the unlucky, were
always making messes.
Yossele shivered as
the rats ran over his feet,
even though he couldn't
really feel them doing it.
He was afraid that they
would gnaw on his crutches,
or even on his clay body.
Menachem watched as
the rats skittered through
his tools, searching for
shiny things to play with.
"I cannot work like this,"
he said as he turned to
the villagers. "What
are you going to do
about all these rats?"
"We have a plan,"
Shlemiel replied.
"Our uncle is going
to bring some cats!"
Shlimazl added.
"Nu, cats eat rats,"
Menachem allowed.
Then the uncle arrived
with a wagon full of cats.
Instead of dispensing them
sensibly, one to each house,
he simply opened the end of
the wagon and let them all out.
Instantly the cats scattered,
some chasing the rats but
others getting into mischief.
There were mama cats and
papa cats and little kittens.
There were black cats and
white cats, spotted cats
and striped cats, even
some with three colors.
While everyone was
watching the cats,
the rats snuck into
the houses where
the cats were not
and ate up the food.
"I may be wrong,"
Menachem said,
"but I think this is
a dreadful idea."
Yossele looked at
the litter of kittens
stealing a fish from
the fishmonger's shop
and shook his head.
He didn't think that
Menachem was wrong.
It had gone from one kind
of chaos to two, and that
was really no help at all.
"You should learn
to look before you leap,"
Menachem grumbled
to the boys' uncle.
"Where's the fun in
that?" the uncle said.
"Seichel v'a katz,"
Menachem said. "You
have the common sense
of a cat. What foolishness!"
"Nu, how else to get rid of
rats?" the uncle reasoned.
"It's the common sense
of cats that is wanted."
Yossele just sighed and
set about gathering the cats.
He took the friendly ones to
the people, one cat per house,
and the skittish ones to the barns
where they could live with the cows.
He took the extras to the widows,
who might like two or three, and
the kittens to homes with children.
"You couldn't have sorted this out
yourselves?" Menachem asked Yenta.
"Why should we?" she said. "We knew
that you were coming here soon, and
you're so much better at that anyway."
Well, Menachem couldn't argue with that.
* * *
Notes:
There is a Yiddish phrase which transliterates as "seichel v'a katz!" meaning literally common sense of a cat! It's foolishness, lack of sense, leaping without looking.
--
In Jewish folklore, Chelm is the village of idiots.
"Seichel v'a Katz"
Menachem and Yossele
returned to Chelm to see
how the village was doing.
It was overrun with rats.
Perhaps that should
be no surprise, since
Amnon the golem spent
most of his time lying
in the road instead
of doing actual work.
Yenta's twin sons,
Shlemiel the clumsy and
Shlimazl the unlucky, were
always making messes.
Yossele shivered as
the rats ran over his feet,
even though he couldn't
really feel them doing it.
He was afraid that they
would gnaw on his crutches,
or even on his clay body.
Menachem watched as
the rats skittered through
his tools, searching for
shiny things to play with.
"I cannot work like this,"
he said as he turned to
the villagers. "What
are you going to do
about all these rats?"
"We have a plan,"
Shlemiel replied.
"Our uncle is going
to bring some cats!"
Shlimazl added.
"Nu, cats eat rats,"
Menachem allowed.
Then the uncle arrived
with a wagon full of cats.
Instead of dispensing them
sensibly, one to each house,
he simply opened the end of
the wagon and let them all out.
Instantly the cats scattered,
some chasing the rats but
others getting into mischief.
There were mama cats and
papa cats and little kittens.
There were black cats and
white cats, spotted cats
and striped cats, even
some with three colors.
While everyone was
watching the cats,
the rats snuck into
the houses where
the cats were not
and ate up the food.
"I may be wrong,"
Menachem said,
"but I think this is
a dreadful idea."
Yossele looked at
the litter of kittens
stealing a fish from
the fishmonger's shop
and shook his head.
He didn't think that
Menachem was wrong.
It had gone from one kind
of chaos to two, and that
was really no help at all.
"You should learn
to look before you leap,"
Menachem grumbled
to the boys' uncle.
"Where's the fun in
that?" the uncle said.
"Seichel v'a katz,"
Menachem said. "You
have the common sense
of a cat. What foolishness!"
"Nu, how else to get rid of
rats?" the uncle reasoned.
"It's the common sense
of cats that is wanted."
Yossele just sighed and
set about gathering the cats.
He took the friendly ones to
the people, one cat per house,
and the skittish ones to the barns
where they could live with the cows.
He took the extras to the widows,
who might like two or three, and
the kittens to homes with children.
"You couldn't have sorted this out
yourselves?" Menachem asked Yenta.
"Why should we?" she said. "We knew
that you were coming here soon, and
you're so much better at that anyway."
Well, Menachem couldn't argue with that.
* * *
Notes:
There is a Yiddish phrase which transliterates as "seichel v'a katz!" meaning literally common sense of a cat! It's foolishness, lack of sense, leaping without looking.
--
In Jewish folklore, Chelm is the village of idiots.