Selections from Yingl tsingl khvat by Mani Leib, illustrated by El Lissitzky.
Yingl tsingl khvat images from YIVO microfilm printout 00004383.

From the Norton Jewish American Literature Anthology: “The most famous of [Mani Leib’s] ballads was Yingl tsingl khvat, a narrative about a boy who, stuck in the shtetl mud, persuades a nobleman to give him the magic ring and flying horse that allow him to escape and bring beauty—a snowstorm—to the world.”

Translation by Jeffrey Shandler (of the text in the images):

I have a story here to tell
To all my children – you as well.
Hush, dear friends, be very still –
Hear my story, if you will.

….

Jews are running everywhere,
Selling here and buying there,
Faces shining as they say,
“What a splendid market day!”

(Source number: AJHS PJ5129.B71513)

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About Mani Leib:

From Encyclopedia Judaica: “Largely eschewing social concerns, he crafted formally unified poems that affirmed a belief in the ability of art to compensate for human suffering. His ‘sound poems’ drew renewed attention to the Yiddish language through their skillful use of alliteration and repetition.”

Submitted by David P. Rosenberg, Center for Jewish History.