[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Sayings and Tales

[Perry1121 at aol.com]

Virginia and list members:

Besides stories and colorful expressions, I've always found Sprichwoerter  or 
folk sayings very interesting, and the little research I've done on the 
subject leads me to believe that popular ones might ultimately be "tagged" to a 
certain location in Germany. Both sides of my family lived in Poland for more 
than a century, migrating from Posen toward Lublin, and after the WWII travails 
arriving in the US in 1952. Favorite sayings I heard growing up included:

Morgen, morgen, nur nicht heute sagen alle faule Leute (Tomorrow, tomorrow, 
just now today, say all the lazy people). Maister, ich bin vertig, darf ich 
trennen (Master, I'm finished, can I rip out the seam).

Another area I just learned about from a cousin includes fairy tales. She 
related a story her uncle often told about the Sieben Kleine Geislein, 7 little 
kids, six of whom were swallowed by a wolf while the smallest hid in a clock. 
That one told the mother; they found the sleeping wolf, snipped him open and 
substituted rocks; he later drowned in the river. The sanitized American version 
puts the kids in a sack. This particular uncle was illiterate, so it is 
unlikely that he read the story; it was part of an oral tradition, complete with 
wonderful sound effects. This family also lived in the Lublin area.

Does anyone else remember this tale or others?

Sigrid Pohl Perry (Pohl, Hapke, Domres, Mantei, Fritz, Klatt, Brauer, 
Albrecht, Scheffler, etc. etc.)