Not My Monkeys: You've got to give it up for the 118th Congress, especially for our idiosyncratic, still-learning-how-to-govern House of Representatives. The US government did not run out of funding money and shut down last weekend!
All of which brouhaha caused Abq Jew to set aside his old, faded philosopher's hat (which he rarely wears, anyway) and instead don his sturdy linguists's helmet - in search of the backgound of the not-my-problem phrase which so disturbingly yet eloquently describes the Republicans in the House. To wit:
Not My Circus. Not My Monkeys.
Well. Who knew? The aforementioned phrase originated (or so Liza Achilles claims) in Poland! Well ... in Polish, anyway.
Nie Mój Cyrk. Nie Moje Małpy.
The phrase, of course has many derivatives. Including one that seems to apply to both the House and the Senate. And the Executive Branch. Which is not to mention - the Supremes!
But Abq Jew digresses, as is his wont. Don't think he won't! But - back to our original phrase. Which can be expressed in many, many languages. Or even turned into a fancy German folk song!
As the German a cappella formation ALTE BEKWANTE has done right here -
Click here for video
Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys
Nicht mein Zirkus, nicht meine Affen
Not my circus, not my monkeys
Nicht mein Zirkus, nicht meine Affen
They'll manage their stuff without me
Die werden ihren Kram schon ohne mich schaffen
Not my construction site, not my house
Nicht meine Baustelle, nicht mein Haus
That's why I'm staying out of it
Darum halt ich mich da raus
I tuned in anytime, anywhere
Ich hab mich jederzeit überall eingeschaltet
Other people's households co-managed
Andrer Leuts Haushalte mitverwaltet
If there was a row somewhere, I wanted to mediate it
Wenn's irgendwo Krach gab, wollt ich schlichten
It didn't work at all
Geklappt hat das mit nichten
Every shoe I saw lying around somewhere
Jeden Schuh, den ich irgendwo rumliegen sah
I got dressed straight away, that's what I was there for
Zog ich mir gleich an, dafür war ich da
But now I'm finally putting an end to it
Aber jetzt mach ich damit endlich Schluss
Because I'm neither allowed nor required to
Weil ich's weder darf noch muss
I often find it difficult to endure
Ich find's oft noch schwierig auszuhalten
To stay out of it every now and then
Mich ab und zu mal rauszuhalten
But now the big day comes
Aber jetzt kommt der große Tag
Where I just say to myself
An dem ich mir einfach sag
Not my circus, not my monkeys
Nicht mein Zirkus, nicht meine Affen
They'll manage their stuff without me
Die werden ihren Kram schon ohne mich schaffen
Not my construction site, not my house
Nicht meine Baustelle, nicht mein Haus
That's why I'm staying out of it
Darum halt ich mich da raus
It's not my job to wake others up
Es ist nicht mein Job, andre wachzurütteln
It's my job to shake things off
Es ist mein Job, Dinge abzuschütteln
A lot of things really don't concern me
Mich geht vieles echt nix an
Sometimes I ask myself: when
Manchmal frage ich mich: wann
I finally manage to be relaxed
Ich es endlich schaff entspannt zu sein
This seemed to be unknown to me until now
Mir schien das bislang unbekannt zu sein
The realization that sometimes things can work without me
Die Erkenntnis, dass es auch mal ohne mich geht
Maybe it won't be too late
Kommt vielleicht noch nicht zu spät
What you might think is good is not always good
Was man vielleicht gut meint, ist nicht immer gut
That which you consciously don't do
Das, was man mal bewusst nicht tut
Gives others the space they need right now
Lässt anderen den Platz, den sie grad brauchen
A reason to take a dive
Ein Grund, mal abzutauchen
Not my circus, not my monkeys
Nicht mein Zirkus, nicht meine Affen
They'll manage their stuff without me
Die werden ihren Kram schon ohne mich schaffen
Not my construction site, not my house
Nicht meine Baustelle, nicht mein Haus
That's why I'm staying out of it
Darum halt ich mich da raus
I have to decide what I find important
Ich muss entscheiden, was ich wichtig find
And which things are pretty trivial
Und welche Dinge eher ziemlich nichtig sind
And where I'm groping in the dark
Und da, wo ich im Dunkeln tappe
I'll shut up
Halt ich halt die Klappe
Not my circus, not my monkeys
Nicht mein Zirkus, nicht meine Affen
They'll manage their stuff without me
Die werden ihren Kram schon ohne mich schaffen
Not my construction site, not my house
Nicht meine Baustelle, nicht mein Haus
That's why I'm staying out of it
Darum halt ich mich da raus
*
Not my circus, not my monkeys
Nicht mein Zirkus, nicht meine Affen
They'll manage their stuff without me
Die werden ihren Kram schon ohne mich schaffen
Not my circus, not my monkeys
Nicht mein Zirkus, nicht meine Affen
That's why I'm staying out of it
Darum halt ich mich da raus
Thank you for scrolling all the way down here!
By now you must be asking yourself -
What has this got to do with the Jews?
Well. It turns out that the phrase in question is an integral part of Jewish tradition. In the form of that olde, familiar saying -
.עס איז ניט מײַן ציג. און ניט מײַן חנוכּה–ליכטל
Not My Goat. Not My Hanukkah Candle.
The goat, of course, must come from Chad Gadya - One Little Goat - that Father bought for two zuzim, right around Pesach. Which teaches us that actions have consequences, and which reminds us that G-d rules the world.
Then again - perhaps the goat comes to us from Shmuel Yoset Agnon's The Fable of the Goat (מעשה העז). One of Agnon's best-known and most-loved works. About which Abq Jew posted in August 2013, in honor of the first birthday of his first grandchild.
And then there's the Hanukkah candle!
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