החתולה | Ha-hatula | The Cat (1912)

Artist: Abraham Zvi Idelsohn (1882-1938)

Hebrew translation (PDF)

Idelsohn does not indicate the author of this text or its source. “Ha-hatula” was published in the children's anthology of Hebrew literature, Tal Boker [Morning Dew], edited by Yitzhak Katzenelson and Yitzhak Berkman (Warsaw, 1904).

The song concerns a beautiful white cat who lives in a house and runs after mice. It begins with the words: "hataltula yesh ba-bayit" [a cat is in the house]. The original published version of the text begins with "hatula yesh li babayit" [I have a little cat] which makes more sense in this context.

This melody, whose source is unidentified, is in a minor key.

Included in

• Sefer ha-Shirim (Book of Songs)

Scores

Original (PDF) Modernized (PDF)

Transliteration

Transliteration (PDF)