Little Stoat lyrics and meaning

Tu šermuonėli, trumpasai kojeli,
Tatato tanarylio.

Nešokinėkie po viešu kelaliu,
Tatato tanarylio.

Vai ir atjoja raitelių pulkelis,
Tatato tanarylio.

Su mindžio tavi žirgai padkavėlėm,
Tatato tanarylio.

Sukapos tavi broliai kančiukaičiais
Tatato tanarylio.

Ba ne aš kokių iškadų padariau,
Tatato tanarylio.

Ba ne per kviečius takeliu pramyniau,
Tatato tanarylio.

Little Stoat: song interpretation

This song with the refrain "tatato tanarylio" can be understood as a song about a small animal caught on the road. At the beginning the short-legged little stoat is addressed and asked not to jump along the public road. This request can be interpreted as a warning to beware.

Then it is said that a band of riders is coming, whose horses will trample the stoat with their horseshoes and whose brothers will cut it with little whips. These images can be understood as a threat approaching in an open place.

At the end the stoat defends itself, saying it has done no damage and has not worn a path through the wheat. This defense can be interpreted as the complaint of an innocent creature facing undeserved danger. This is one possible meaning, but the motifs of danger and innocence are clear. The song is close to a variant beginning with the same words.

Little Stoat: symbols and phrases

Short-legged little stoat
The small animal jumping on the public road signifies a weak, vulnerable creature.
Public road
An open place where danger lies in wait. It marks a threatening space.
Band of riders with whips
The arriving riders threaten with horses and whips. They embody the approaching danger.
"I did no damage"
The stoat's declaration of innocence marks the complaint of a creature threatened unfairly.

Little Stoat: song history

"Little Stoat" belongs to songs about animals, close to the children's and play-song repertoire: a short-legged little stoat is warned not to jump along the public road, because a band of riders is coming. The repeated refrain "tatato tanarylio," sung after every line, is typical of play songs and sustains the rhythm. This is a variant of a song beginning with the same words, "Tu šermuonėli trumpasaikojėli," but with a somewhat differently written refrain and line arrangement.

The exact place and time of recording are not given on this page, so the song is presented through genre features; the language is dialectal (trumpasai kojeli, kelaliu, kančiukaičiais). The stoat's defense, that it did no damage and did not wear a path through the wheat, forms the emotional core of the song: the complaint of an innocent creature under threat.

sources

  • Lithuanian Folk Songbook, vols. 1-23, Vilnius 1980-2011 (LLTI)
  • P. Jokimaitiene. Lithuanian Children's Folk Songs, Vilnius 1970
  • Catalogue of Lithuanian Folk Songs, 6 vols., Vilnius 1972-1986

Little Stoat: sources