Puella in Sella

Here's a little Latin nursery rhyme I wrote, inspired by "Little Miss Muffet," although the Latin came out differently: no tuffet (whatever that is!), no curds and whey, and no spider. Instead, I had the little girl dozing in the chair, surprised by a snake:

*** UPDATE: I added an ending too! See the next post.

Olim bella puélla

Residébat in sella;

Dórmitat mox, óscitans.

Nunc colúbra advénit.

Et iam sellam ascéndit!

Puélla salit, clámitans.

Literal English, with the Latin side by side:

Once a pretty girl

    Olim bella puella

Was sitting in her chair,

    Residebat in sella,

And soon she dozes, yawning.

    Et mox dormitat, oscitans.

Then a snake came,

    Tunc colubra advenit

And now it is climbing the chair!

    Et iam sellam ascendit!

The girl jumps up, shrieking.

    Puella salit, clámitans.

Plus I made up a tune for it:

C-D   E E E   E D

C-D   E E E   E D

C       E E E   E F E   D

C-D   E E E   E D

C-D   E E E   E D

C       E E E   F E D   C

---

---

And here's the traditional rhyme in English:

Little Miss Muffet

Sat on a tuffet,

Eating her curds and whey;

There came a big spider,

Who sat down beside her

And frightened Miss Muffet away.

Kate Greenaway illustration