Limerick is an English 5-line form of nonsense poetry with a 3-foot anapaest in the first, second, and third lines, a 2-foot anapaest in the third and fourth, and an aabba rhyming scheme.

Limerick example:

A girl from Brunei said to the handsome pygmy:
« Kiss my dear
You'll only get by force
And God knows which of us is stronger».

Limericks can have a variety of themes., up to philosophical and religious, but they are revealed in the narrative of some funny, unusual or even incredible event, and the limerick is considered more virtuoso, in which there are more absurdities. Very often the content is obscene. With extensive use of puns and whimsical spellings that allow for spelling changes to match rhymes, limerick is largely an art of wordplay.

The rhyming scheme may be broken in it, it may consist of a different number of lines, up to doubling, when the lines of one limerick alternate with the lines of another, etc., however, its intonational-syntactic construction is sufficiently fixed, and especially the first line, containing, as a rule, information about the character: who he is and where he is from. The tradition of preserving colloquial style in the limerick is also stable.

Origin of limerick

The origin of the genre of the same name with the Irish city of Limerick is unclear. One version connects it with improvisational songs performed in Ireland during stormy feasts and ending with the refrain: “Will you come to Limerick?”. However, such songs are not reflected in written sources. Just as little substantiated is the version according to which the limerick, along with other rough barracks songs, was brought from France by veterans of the Irish Brigades, which were part of the French army for almost 100 years (since 1691). The name of the genre has been recorded in English dictionaries since 1896, although he himself was well known already at the beginning of the 19th century: it can be found in two collections published in London in 1820 (“The Story of Sixteen Amazing Old Women”) and 1822 (“Incidents from the Life and Adventures of Fifteen gentlemen").

Rise of the limerick

The heyday of the limerick is associated with the name of Edward Lear, who published in 1846 "The Book of Nonsense". Lear changed the traditional form of this genre somewhat by combining the third and fourth lines into one with an internal rhyme. The final line of his often repeats the first and, differing by one or two words, introduces only a slight semantic shade into the content. Characteristic features of his limerick are the abundance of geographical names and interest in all sorts of oddities of human behavior. A. Tennyson, A. Swinburne, R. Kipling, R. L. Stevenson, M. Twain addressed the limerick; and by the early 20th century it was already a well-established genre. The modern limerick is mostly five-line, its last line tends to be a witty or unexpected conclusion, and it, often not devoid of a satirical orientation, gravitates towards an epigram. In most cases, the limerick is anonymous, which, taking into account the predominantly oral form of existence, brings it closer to folklore genres.

Once upon a time there was an old man in Brazzaville -
He was constantly caught.
He was very angry
But still caught
When asked for a long time.

Nothing is easier than writing limerick! Of course, you can say that you are not a poet and cannot write poetry. Let me disagree. When it comes to poems like limericks, almost anyone can write them. Doubt? Then let's find out what limericks are and how to write them.

Surely there is not a single person who has never heard and sang ditties. Chastushki are our folk funny songs. Almost every nation has relatives of ditties. In England, such humorous poems are called limericks.

The history of limericks is interesting. It is believed that the first limericks were published by Edward Lear, in the book The Book of Nonsense, which was published in 1846 and has been translated into almost all languages ​​of the world. With the advent of the book, a new direction appeared - nonsense literature. But limericks arose long before the book was published in folk art, which is what our ditties resemble.

Heroes limericks- big eccentrics and eccentrics who perform various unimaginable acts, which attract readers.

To the old man alone at the window
Stray cats climbed
And meowed in harmony
With him all the songs in a row.
The dog played the harmonica with them.

Limericks easy to come up with, since they have a clear structure of the structure, which cannot be changed. Having clearly executed the algorithm for creating a limerick, you will receive your own poem. It turns out that anyone can become a poet, even by writing humorous poems - limericks.

So, let's create limericks.

Limerick consists of only 5 lines. The first, second, fifth lines are three-foot, the third and fourth are two-foot. Plot limerick is based on two options.

Option 1.

1 line - who and from where (sex and age from the area),

Line 2 - which one? (has quality)

3-4 line - which manifests itself as ...,

Line 5 - what makes people react ...

Once upon a time there was a nice lady,
It looks completely square.
Whoever meets her
From the bottom of my heart I admired:
“How nice this lady is!”

Option 2.

Line 1 - Who and where? (gender, age from locality),

Line 2 - What did you do? (performs an act)

3 - 4 line - What came of it? (which leads to consequences),

Line 5 - reaction to this act. Moreover, the end of the last line repeats the end of the first.

***

One old man in the Bahamas
Lying about in purple pajamas.
He ate his mango
To the music of tango -
Lucky old man in the Bahamas!

***

One old man from Macau
Dip your shoes in cocoa
A white vest
He dipped in vinaigrette -
Cheerful old man from Macau!

***

There was a man in Amsterdam
Hasn't cleaned his hat in years.
He is casually in it
brewed tea
And he walked in it in Amsterdam!

Writing limericks you have to follow a certain meter and rhyming system, but the main thing in a limerick is deliberate nonsense, condensed to such an extent that it becomes ridiculous.

Limericks- this is a great opportunity to develop, introduce it to the world of literature and world art.

Drawing by Edward Lear

Limerick is a five-line comic poem originally from England.
The history of their origin is not known for certain. It is believed that the word limerick comes from the name of the Irish city of Limerick.
However, what is the connection between the city and cheerful poems is still not clear. One of the versions: the birth of a limerick from drinking songs that were sung
once upon a time in this glorious Irish city. At first they were long, they were composed on the go in a kind of poetic competition. And then,
to make it easier to compete in wit, the songs were reduced to five lines and acquired clear rules.
The rules are as follows: five lines in anapaest, which rhyme according to the aabba scheme, with the 1st, 2nd and 5th lines being three-footed, and the 3rd and 4th lines being two-footed.
The plot of a limerick is built like this: the first line tells who and most often from where, the second - what he did or what his properties are,
and in the following - what came of it. In the canonical version, the last line repeats the first. Another important property of limericks is
this is their absurdity, the hero, his character and actions must be funny and incredible.

Edward Lear

Limerick gained popularity after 1846, when the artist Edward Lear published two small books, A Book of Nonsense and More Nonsense.
(“The Book of Nonsense” and “More Nonsense”). These poems were written for children, but they also turned out to be of interest to many, many adults.
It should be noted that Lear never called his poems limericks, but, of course, he was familiar with this folk song form.
He found that the form of the limerick provided endless possibilities for the use of rhyme, and that the amusing content
is a wonderful material for artistic illustrations.

Examples

The girl has one miracle nose
Grew and grew, and half grown;
So the old woman used to
The one who stepped firmly
Hired to wear this nose.

There lived a long-liver in Pergamon,
He read Homer upside down.
Until then, I read
What is weakened, staggered
And fell off a cliff in Pergamon.

Graceful old man from Verona
I danced two quadrilles with a crow,
Though they were talking around
What are quadrilles -
It's just a shame for Verona.

Other writers of the 19th and 20th centuries who also dabbled in the limerick genre

Lewis Carroll

Every day a certain guy in Paris
It got lower and lower.
"That's who," he said,
He pressed me in the crown -
This box is filled with cement slurry.

Rudyard Kipling

Quebec boy in a snowstorm
I was up to my neck in snow.
To the question: “Are you cold?”
The answer was: “Yes, I did.
But I can’t say that I’m frozen.”

Ogden Nash

An elderly gentleman from Locarno
I oiled my nose regularly,
That's why I didn't snore
And only softly sniffed,
When night fell in Locarno.

Tourist named Spock
Fell right into the Nile stream.
Crocodile yawned:
"Well, the breakfast was nice,
But I'd rather have pie."

Russian limericks

Many Russian translators of limericks began to compose their own.
And no wonder, this is an infectious and exciting game.

Olga Sedakova and her "Life of Remarkable People"

Fyodor Tyutchev lit a candle
Written: I am silent. I am silent.
The spoken is a lie
But, reader, you will understand
You are one exclamation: Chu!

Poems by Athanasius Fet
About how he came with greetings,
Appeared in print
Completely inappropriate.
And they didn't value him for that.

Once visiting Nekrasov
The painter Savrasov got through,
And, handing over the cards,
He was crying like a child
Over the fate of the serfs at Nekrasov.

Young man at Stendhal
Loved the Italian ones.
He died of passion
In the twelfth part
The last volume of Stendhal.

Form

Traditionally, a limerick has five lines built according to the AABBA scheme, and in the canonical form the end of the last line repeats the end of the first. The plot of a limerick is built something like this: the first line says who and where, the second - what he did, and then - what came of it. Most often, the limerick is written in anapaest (1st, 2nd and 5th lines - three-foot, 3rd and 4th - two-foot), less often amphibrach, even more rarely - dactyl.

Story

The name comes from the Irish city of Limerick, but the connection between the city and the poems that have been called that since 1896 is not exactly known.

“The name of the city gave the name to the comic poems of five lines. The origin of the word "limerick" is not exactly known, but is presumably borrowed from the title of a choral song by Irish soldiers in the 18th century. "Are you coming to Limerick?" According to another version, the title of the poem goes back to the custom of inventing and singing comic songs at parties, the refrain of which was, again, the phrase “Will you come up to Limerick?” (“Will you come to Limerick?”) ".

Notable authors

The most famous author of English limericks is Edward Lear, in Russia his poems are known in translations by Grigory Kruzhkov, Mark Freidkin, Evgeny Klyuev, Sergey Task and others. Grigory Kruzhkov, analyzing Lear's limericks, discovers in them an unexpectedly serious subtext, subtle connections with the poet's personal biography and paradoxical echoes with the poetry of William Butler Yeats.

Many examples are found in other British poets, in particular in Lewis Carroll and Wendy Cope (in a parody of T. S. Eliot).

Outside the UK

There is an opinion that the attraction to limerick is connected with the British national character: for example, Georgos Seferis in a letter to Lawrence Durrell noted:

I think that writing limericks is a good exercise for a lonely person, you can assume that this genre developed in England because all you islanders are lonely.

In addition, according to the fair remark of the critic,

limericks cannot be translated, they are recreated "from nothing" in a foreign language. The translator, if he wants to retain this title at all costs, has to act in a roundabout manner.

However, in the 20th century, the original limericks appeared in different languages. This genre is especially popular among amateur authors on the Internet. Tribute to limerick was paid by many famous writers, whose interests in general lie in completely different areas of literature - in particular, Sergey Averintsev, Tatyana Shcherbina.

In Russia, the limerick genre is actively developing thanks to ironist poets, in particular, Anatoly Belkin, Igor Irteniev, Sergei Satin, Sergei Shorgin, Olga Arefieva and many others.

Examples of limericks

Member of the Folketing from Denmark Succeeded in Kabbalah and Divination And friends from Parliament Through the pages of the regulations predicts the outcome of the meeting.

They say that in the Republic of Chad The third day there-there are knocking. The neighbors are afraid And in vain, just chads From this knock stick out.

Hobby- What is Limericky? ("Irish ditties")

──══════════── Limericky () I. Bozhenko, 1999 What is it? A year ago in Optocoupler |23 a selection of limericks was published, and it was promised to explain what it was soon. Well, contrary to the proverb, the promise did not have to wait for three whole years. So what is it -"limericks"? Opening the dictionary, you can find out that Limerick are: 1) A county in the southwest of Ireland. 2) City, port and county seat of Limerick. Located at the mouth of the Shannon River. The population is about 100 thousand inhabitants (which is approximately half of the Lvov Sikhovsky housing estate). Machine-building, construction, food, sewing and shoe enterprises operate there (unlike in Sikhov). Not far from Limerick, Shannon International Airport is located - a "transit point" on the Moscow - New York highway. Limerick has long been famous for all sorts of mysterious and inexplicable events taking place in and around it. Here we can recall, at least, the famous dream of "Tsar Boris" on board the plane at Shannon Airport, which led to the disruption of his meeting with the Prime Minister of Ireland. 3) Handmade lace from Limerick. 4) Small fishing hook. And finally... 5)A special form of poetryoriginally - one of the varieties of English poetic folklore. His "homeland" is considered Limerick. Form Limerick has a very rigid rhyme, meter and plot. It contains five lines with a rhyming scheme"A-A-B-B-A" (the first line rhymes with the second and fifth, the second - with the third). Lines 1, 2, 5 - three-foot anapaest or amphibrach:a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-aLines 3, 4 - two-foot anapaest or amphibrach:a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a a-a-a-a-a-a-aIn English verses, lines 3, 4, as a rule, are combined into one. This is sometimes done in translations as well. Content The limerick plot in its canonical form has the following construction: - line 1 - the name (or sign) of the hero of the poem and his place of residence are reported; - line 2 - it is reported what the hero was doing; - lines 3, 4 - an explanation of the reasons or consequences of these classes; - line 5 - morality, while the line should, like an echo, half repeat line 1 and contain some evaluative epithet.A bit of historyLong time ago, yearsI think two hundred, maybe three hundredago, the inhabitants of the glorious city of Limerick had a tradition every autumn to arrange, as they would call it now, festivals (attention, spektrumisty!) beer. Incredible amounts of Irish ale were drunk there and songs praising the hometown and the beer produced there were sung, for example:You shall be drink a beer in Limerick! O, won't you come up, Come all the way up, Come all the way up to Limerick?It was also customary for each of the companions to take turns singing a verse composed by himself of an endless song dedicated to the adventures of a certain unfortunate young man from Limerick, for example:There was a Young Man of Limerick, Who was in great hysteric; When they said, "Are you mad?" He replied, "No, I"m fat!" That fooly Young Man of Limerick.(I confess that I composed this verse myself - to make sure that this activity was quite a simple thing). Following Irish ale, limericks also migrated to England and spread widely there ... Meanwhile, the greatVictorian era...Oh, the Victorian era! What people! Victoria (Victoria). Born in 1819 in London, died in 1901 in Osborne. From 1837 - Queen of Great Britain(Her Magisty the Greate Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland). What names! C. Dickens, W. Thackeray, C. Bronte, E. Voynich, J. B. Shaw, G. Wells, O. Wilde, D. Joyce, A. Conan Doyle!And what time! The world industrial monopoly has been achieved! The realms of the British Crown stretch all over the world, and the sun never sets on them! And now all this has been transformed into the British Commonwealth of Nations.(Concord of Nations) - an interstate association consisting of 48 states (not to reproach the creators of the CIS). So, there lived at that time a little-known animal painter who taught Queen Victoria the art of drawing. And they called him Edward Lear (1812-1888). It was he who made limericks the great asset of English classical poetry. The poems composed by him immediately gained great popularity and retain it to this day all over the world. Limerick book printed in London in 1848"A Book of Nonsense" immediately became a bibliographic rarity: evenBritish Libraryforced to be content with only the 3rd edition (1861). Following Lear, the baton was picked up by such classics of English literature asR. Stevenson, R. Kipling, G. Chesterton.In the future, the authors of limericks (even those that have become "classics") were numerous anonymous authors.Translation problemsApproximately half a century ago, limericks began to speak Russian. There was also a "Russified" name -"Irish ditties".The first person to translate them wasSamuil Yakovlevich Marshak(1887-1964). Here is his translation of an old limerick that has not yet acquired canonical form:Upon my word and honor, As I went to Bonner, I met a pig without a stig, Upon my word and honor.I give you my word of honor, Yesterday at half past six I met two pigs Without a coat and boots, I give you my word of honor!And here is the translation from R. Kipling (Rudyard Kipling): There was a Young Lady of Niger, Who smiled as she rode on a tiger; They returned from the ride With the Lady inside, And the smile on the face of the tiger. Smiling, three brave ladies Riding on horseback bear. Now all three are inside the bear, And the smile is on the face of the bear. 1956 Interestingly, in an attempt to get closer to the original, Marshak made another option: smiled three brave girls On the back of bengal tigress.Now all three are inside the tigress, And the smile is on the tigress's face. 1964 *** Unfortunately, Marshak did very little limerick work. The authors of the "canonical" translations are Olga Astafieva and Marina Redkina.Alas! I am completely unaware of a publication in which the Russian translations of the limericks were somehow collected together. In the same timeAlexander Mokrovolskymade an almost complete translation of E. Lear into Ukrainian:E. Lir. Nebilitsi. - K .: Veselka, 1989.Let's get acquainted with the samples of Lear's translations:There was an Old Man on a hill, Who seldom, if ever, stood still; He ran up and down, In his Grandmother's gown, Which adorned that Old Man on a hill.At the top of the mountain lived an old man, He was not used to standing still. Up and down faster in a dress mother-in-law his Amazing old man ran. O. Astafieva Alive sobi cholovik on the hump - All on the suite robbing the nashvidka. Vilnim kroєm peace of mind Vdjag shirt grandmother That th gasav day i nich on the hump. old Person Of Harst, Who drank when he was not athirst; When they said"You"ll grow fatter" He answered, "What matter?"That globular Person of Harst. Drinking drinks fat man from ottawaNot out of thirst, but for fun. Everyone screams:"Caution! It's possible to burst like that!"But the fat man from Ottawa does not hear. M. Redkina P "e water uncle from Hurst,Drinking the sight of a wide heart! Say: -Get smooth! - Well, then what? Zalyubki! -Vўdmovlya round uncle from Hirst.O. Mokrovolsky *** There was an Old Man of Whitehaven Who danced a quadrille with a Raven; But they said, "It's absurd, To encourage this bird!"So they smashed that Old Man of Whitehaven. An old man named Wall The waltz danced with the black crow. Everyone shouts: "It's not good to encourage this bird!"Broken by grief, the old man sobbed. O. Astafieva Little one from WhitehavenVitantsovuvav s kruk so jealously, Cho said: - Whom do you dance pidohotiv?Well, beat the little guy from Whitehaven. O. Mokrovolsky *** The last limerick is downright dedicated to the fans"Black Crow"do not find? But pay attention: not once in the Russian translation was it possible to preserve the name and geographical name. But the Ukrainian language, having greater flexibility, made it possible to get much closer to the original. This is especially noticeable in the example of modern translations of Lear, which were made byGrigory Kruzhkov: There was a Young Lady of Russia Who screamed so that no one could hash her; Her screams were extreme, No one heard such scream At was screamed by that Lady of Russia. lived boy near Thermopylae,Who screamed so loudly, That all the aunts were deaf and the herrings were dead, And dust fell from the rafters. Gr. Kruzhkov Well, yelling Mrs. Russia! I can’t see anything with the cry of that yelling: Who is ticking, who is grimacing, Who is shouting at that pani from Russia.O. Mokrovolsky *** There was an old man of the border, who lived in the utmost desorder; He dansed with the cat, And made tea in his hat, Which vexed all the folks of the Border. once upon a time man in AmsterdamHe did not clean his hat for years He casually brewed tea in it And walked in it in Amsterdam. Gr.Kruzhkov Little one from CordonShe did not know the rules of a good tone: I danced out of the cat, poured tea at the bril. Oh i angry people from Cordon!O. Mokrovolsky *** Poetry of the absurd Having retained the form of a folk limerick, Lear filled it with his own special, "Learish" content, creating a fantastic world - violent, strange, but, nevertheless, with its own laws and logic. Lear's heroes live on trees and poles, ring the doorbell until they turn gray, even though no one opens it... Their appearance corresponds to their actions, for example, a long nose where they put a cup of tea. They live in harmony with nature - running up and down the hill, dancing with a cat - and in disagreement with society, which is irritated by their chimeras. For example, a grandfather who dared to dance with a raven is beaten. But the heroes of limericks endure all hardships - for example, walking in the mouth of a volcano, they say that it is cold there. The harsh world of puritanism did not tolerate a full life, play and laughter, perceived everything exclusively in black and white. Lear "blew up" this worldview. And what? At the turn of the XIX-XX centuries. The widespread poetry of the absurd gave a powerful impetus to the development of "non-classical" philosophy, physics, mathematics, and logic. To make it clearer what we are talking about, let us dwell a little on such a branch of mathematics as intuitionistic logic. Founder of intuitionism - L.E.Brauer (1881-1966, Holland). In this logic, the principle is not allowed "There is no third"),those. logical calculations are performed in the same way as in Boolean algebra - but with the exception of its axioms=_X=X; X + X = 1 It follows from here that the method"From the contrary." To all provisions in intuitionism, the so-called."requirement of full evidence". Why not "Lear" logic? Lear and his closest "heir"Lewis Carroll (Alice in Wonderland, Hunting the Snark)- generally recognized founders of the literature of the absurd. However, I must note that elements of the poetry of the absurd can be found, for example, in the work of the Ukrainian poetStepan Rudansky(1834-1873). And in Russian literature, the classic of absurd poetry - of course,Korney Chukovsky(Nikolai Korneichukov, 1882-1969).Departure from the canonsOver time, limericks have lost the initially given rigidity of the plot and have become a kind of political and everyday epigrams. Here is a classic example (accompanied, for want of a better one, by my own translation):"What on earth have you done," said Christine, "Almost ruining the party machine. It is not at all the rude To lie in the nude, But to lie in the House is obscene!"Varto bulo bi diznatis, in the middle of current references, - Why did the minister's rating fall too much? Through those who vin grave Christine without a break, Che to the one who the whole nation vin grave?In the original, the heroine explains that she sees nothing shameful in demonstrating her charms.(to lie in the nude) - as opposed to lying in the British House of Commons(to lie in the House). (By the way, constant "play on words" - another feature limerick, extremely difficult to translate). The limerick itself is about how in 1963 the British Minister of War John Profumo was accused of "hazing" with a fashion model Christine Keeler and denied it at parliamentary hearings. And an additional piquancy was that Kristina was suspected of collaborating with the KGB. So, as you can see, in history Bill and Monica there is nothing new. As for "everyday life" - here are its examples (translation -Vladimir Gurvich):There was a young maiden of Siam Who said to her lover, young Kiam, "If you kiss me, of course, You will have to use force, - But god knows you are stronger that I am".Once a native of Sydney said to Cavalier, turning pale: - A kiss, my dear, You will achieve only by force, But, by God, you are much stronger.*** A bather whose clothing was strewed By breezes that left her quite nude, Saw a man come along, And, unless I am wrong, You expected this line to be lewd.The young bather's grief - All the clothes were stolen by the sea. Look, a man is walking... Am I right in assuming That you are waiting for a dirty story?*** There was a young lady of Kent Who said that she knew what it meant When men asked her to dine, And served cocktails and wine; She knew what it meant - but she went! The girl is one of the Eagle She was very perceptive. And why men treat her with gin - I understood ... But still - I drank. *** And so, from the last of these limericks, we can move on to their "transplantation on domestic soil."Possible optionsIt often happens that several different limericks are created on the basis of one plot. And when it comes to translation, something appears, even "more different". For example:There was a Young Fellow of Lyme, who lived with three wives at a time. When asked, "Why the third?" He said, "One"s absurd, And bigamy, sir, is a crime."An Englishman named John kept three wives in his house. He said, it happened that one was not enough for him, Bigamy - punishes the law.O.Astafieva A Turk by the name of Haroun Ate whiskey by means of a spoon To one who asked why This turk made reply: "To drink is forbidden, you loon".Muslim Abu Ben Simbel ate whiskey with a tablespoon. When asked what was the reason, He said: - Fool! Drink Allah did not order alcohol. V.Gurvich The ministers asked Chubais: - Is it possible to drink genie from a canister? He said: - From the bucket It's bad to drink in the morning, And the bottles - end quickly. *** So, as you can see, "English" limerick is quite capable of becoming a "domestic". Here are some more similar examples:There was an Old Person of Gretna, Who rused down the crater of Etna; When they said, "Is it hot?" He replied, "No, it's not!" That mendacious Old Person of Gretna. E. LearEnticed didovi from Gretni Take a walk in the crater of Etni. Htos pita: - Pikaє? Did Guka: I'm freezing! - From zbrehav so zbrehav didid from Gretney! O. Mokrovolsky In Guantanamo, an old man from Gretna stole a powerful missile cruiser from the base. To the question: - What the hell? - Answered: - For grain! - This deceitful old man from Gretna.Kirill Katz *** There was a Young Fellow named Sistall, Who shot three old maids with a pistol. When "twas known what he he"d done, He was given a gun By the unmarried curates of Bristol.A scoundrel named Budd emptied a pistol in the old maids. The townspeople found out, they gave him a machine gun ... There are no more old maids in the city. O. Astafieva One villain zarizav on the gank Nationally svidom krayanka. Nesvidomi how they knew - they gave you a machine gun, Schob skinning wine to the robot to the wound.(translation - mine, I.B.)A certain count on the way to Geneva Raped an old maid. As a result of the scandal, suddenly there were a lot of old maids on the roads to Geneva!Victor Arolovich *** A diring Yong Lady of Guam Observed, "The Pasific"s so calm I"ll swim out for a larc." She met a Large Shark... Let us now sing the Ninetieth Psalm.The brave maiden of Iran, Captivated by the beauty of the ocean, Flew overboard. Towards - a shark ... Peace to the soul that soared so early! M.Redkina A businessman in the oceanic wind Pluskotiv so, what's so cute! Alya at once missed a swarthy shark, - Less than a pager lost in the wind.(translation - mine, I.B.) *** A crusader "s wife skipped from the harrison And had an affair with saracin. She was not oversexed, Or jealous, or vexed, She just wanted to make a comparison.A black-browed maiden from Asia Gave herself to an Ashkenazi young man. It’s not that she didn’t get enough from her own, But she wanted variety. A. Balaev Political officer's spouse Xenia agreed with the commander of the department; And - without a shadow of shame: after all, not for the sake of fornication, But just for comparison.D. Danilov *** The typists in Wheesley and Beesley All fornicate keenly and eas "ly, In this pleasant way They add to their pay Which in Wheesley and Beesley is measly.Typists from the city of Grodno Give themselves up easily and freely. And for this occupation, the inhabitants of the city of Grodno add to their salary. D. Prokofiev Secretary from Leninabad Always happy to serve a Muscovite. But keep in mind - for a decent bribe: After all, her salary is not enough. D. Danilov *** Limericks on the webOn the Internet, the page of limericks can be found on the server Rambler's Top100 Service. Leads it and collects all kinds of limericks there - both "classic" and "amateur" - such a Ilya Ratner, now a citizen of Israel,"Mayor of the Free City of Limerick",as he calls himself. Here is a limerick composed especially in his honor:A certain mayor, like a lover of literature In his town and in the vicinity, For visiting hussars made a limerick bar, Which achieved virtual fame. Anat.Belkin National characterSince the limerick web page is run by Ole (translated from Hebrew - "new repatriate"), it is not surprising that the authorship of many limericks here belongs to the actual and potential Olya, and there is a lot of things here on "this very" topic:After drinking cola, the ole from Melbourne began to look for where the urn was nearby. So he walked, they say, from Metula to Eilat And swore violently to the extreme. Susie Brower Once upon a time there was a guy alone in Galilee, He ran along the sea, as if along an alley. The Olympic Committee Did not include him in the lists - And he left the sport, regretting.Elena ZusmanovichYoung pioneer Pavlik Morozov was not afraid of kulak threats. He forbade his own father to eat matzo, Saying: "Everything is for the good of the collective farms"! Margulis Rabinovich sighed at the rabbi: - The son was baptized! Such a beast! - He replied: - Fool! Even God, our father, has the same tsores from his son! Anat. Belkin *** There is even a special name for this variety of the genre -"Olimeriki". But, of course, not forgotten and all the others. Here are the limericks that I composedBoris Burda: Leader of the Intermovement in Estonia He wished to move to Japan. "To the rising sun! You won't find Estonians there! And the Japanese would somehow understand me..." ! A Yakut from Yakutsk was frightened: "Sentry, they are beating Russians in the Baltics! Know that the Balts hate the Yakuts so fiercely, That they left us for a snack!" A gentleman from Moldavia writes to Kiev: "You would give us Odessa kindly: Moldavian woman is ours there! And for the port and for the beaches We will fill you with wine up to the tonsils!" A Lviv resident from Rukh was convinced - There is a hole in the old woman. I exhausted the intellect, studied the dialect, With the Ukrainian, the correct one - deaf! A party worker from Minsk was furious: - Informals are more mysterious than the sphinx! They excite the people, seeking freedom ... I would have freedom - I would drink myself in a year! Once a venerable Georgian from Sukhumi Declared without buying New Texas jeans in GUM: - Because of the intrigues of the Abkhaz I will suffer in a black suit! An aksakal from Kyrgyzstan lamented: - In vain, Allah, they brought us closer to the Uzbeks! To live next to Denmark, Or - with the Congo and Chad ... And if not - deploy a division! *** However, I would like to warn you...... that anyone who looks at the web page of limericks will be amazed by the abundance of informal vocabulary there and the "specificity" of the subject, against the background of which a limerick likeA pancy who lived in Khartoum, Took a lesbian up to his room And they argued all night Over who had the right To do what, and with which, and to whom.With a lesbian decided once to sleep a young homosexual. But they had to decide: Who should poke, What, to whom, how, where, how many times? *** How can this be explained? Features of the national character? It is assumed, obviously, that the more obscene, the cooler. (Well, I think it's the other way around. It's a matter of taste.) The authors themselves explain this as follows:A Limerick gets laughs anatomical Into space that is quite economical. But the good ones I "ve seen So seldom are clean, And the clean ones so seldom are comical.Short limerick - that's good, It's a bit like tickling. It's a pity, funny, usually - Very indecent. From decent - you will die of boredom. V.Gurvich If your hearing is distorted by obscenities - The form of the verse is to blame for this! Very difficult, sorry: Fit in five lines - Humor, meaning and lack of obscenity! Vl. Andreev *** And finally, an afterword...Well, that's ended our brief digression ... Perhaps someone would like to know - or report - on this subject, something else? Or maybe someone will be tempted by the above examples, and he will take up writing limericks? Write to us and"Optocoupler" happy to publish your work!To be continued?..