Five Little Monkeys

Five Little Monkeys è una canzone popolare in lingua inglese. Di solito è accompagnata da un fingerplay, una sequenza di gesti che imitano le parole della canzone. Ogni verso successivo porta progressivamente il conto alla rovescia rispetto al numero iniziale.

La variante "Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree" in inglese e spagnolo.

Fonti

Non è nota l'origine della canzone, poiché è una moderna filastrocca. La canzone ha testi simili e si sintonizza sul primo verso della canzone folk Shortnin' Bread.

Testi

Una versione comunemente usata comprende queste parole:

Five little monkeys jumping on the bed,
One fell down and bumped his/her head,
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,
"No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

Four little monkeys jumping on the bed,
One fell down and bumped his/her head,
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,
"No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

Three little monkeys jumping on the bed,
One fell down and bumped his/her head,
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,
"No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

Two little monkeys jumping on the bed,
One fell down and bumped his/her head,
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,
"No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

One little monkey jumping on the bed,
He/She/One fell down and bumped his/her head,
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,
"No more monkeys jumping on the bed!"

No little monkeys jumping on the bed,
None fell down and bumped their head,
Papa called the doctor and the doctor said,
"Put those monkeys right to bed!"

Un'ulteriore strofa è:  

No little monkeys jumping on the bed,
None fell down and bumped their heads.
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said:
Put those monkeys straight back to the bed!

Una versione alternativa è:

Five little monkeys swinging in a tree,
Teasing Mr. Alligator "Can't catch me!"
Along came Mr. Alligator quiet as can be,
And snatched that monkey out of that tree!

Four little monkeys swinging in a tree,
Teasing Mr. Alligator "Can't catch me!"
Along came Mr. Alligator quiet as can be,
And snatched that monkey out of that tree!

Three little monkeys swinging in a tree,
Teasing Mr. Alligator "Can't catch me!"
Along came Mr. Alligator quiet as can be,
And snatched that monkey out of that tree!

Two little monkeys swinging in a tree,
Teasing Mr. Alligator "Can't catch me!"
Along came Mr. Alligator quiet as can be,
And snatched that monkey out of that tree!

One little monkey swinging in a tree,
Teasing Mr. Alligator "Can't catch me!"
Along came Mr. Alligator quiet as can be,
And snatched that monkey out of that tree!

No more monkeys swinging in a tree!

In alternativa:  

Five little monkeys swinging in a tree
"Look Mr. Crocodile, you can't catch me!"
Along comes the crocodile as quiet as can be
And SNAP went the crocodile
Oh dear me

Four little monkeys swinging in a tree
"Look Mr. Crocodile, you can't catch me!"
Along comes the crocodile as quiet as can be
And SNAP went the crocodile
Oh dear me

Three little monkeys swinging in a tree
"Look Mr. Crocodile you can't catch me!"
Along comes the crocodile as quiet as can be
And SNAP went the crocodile
Oh dear me

Two little monkeys swinging in a tree
"Look Mr. Crocodile you can't catch me!"
Along comes the crocodile as quiet as can be
And SNAP went the crocodile
Oh dear me

One little monkey swinging in a tree
"Look Mr. Crocodile you can't catch me!"
Along comes the crocodile as quiet as can be
And SNAP went the crocodile
Oh dear me.

In altri media

Eileen Christelow ha scritto una serie di libri dal titolo Five Little Monkeys; l'autrice ha ammesso di non aver scritto i testi originali, ma di averli imparati da sua figlia.

Adattamenti in altre lingue

In lingua italiana la filastrocca è comunemente adattata sotto il titolo Cinque scimmiette.

Voci correlate

• Ten Little Indians

Altri progetti

Altri progetti

• Wikimedia Commons

• Wikimedia Commons contiene immagini o altri file su Five Little Monkeys