Rooikappie - Philip de Vos | Poem Analysis

This is an English translation and explanation of the poem - Rooikappie

 

 Afrikaans Version

 

"Klein Rooikappie stap na die woud

na Ouma toe, maar skrik haar koud,

en sy wou flou val, ja, gewis,

toe ‘n BMW haar net-net mis.

 

En by die stuurwiel, dik en vet,

vol Old Spice en ‘n sigaret

sit Hendrik Janse van der Colff,

bekend as padvark, én as wolf.

 

“Wil jy ‘n lift hê, liewe diertjie?

Dan gee ek jou ‘n koue biertjie.”

Maar darie goeie kind Rooikappie

dink aan woorde van haar pappie:

 

Pas tog op vir vreemdelinge,

met hul lollipops en dinge …

Gedagtig daaraan sê sy NEE!

en hoor net motorbande skree.

 

Maar toe sy by haar ouma kom,

was sy geskok en skoon verstom,

want naas haar in die dubbelbed

lê Hendrik Janse, breed en vet.

 

Haar ouma sug: “My nood was groot,

want Oupa is so lankal dood …”

Toe sluk die tweetjies aan ‘n Carling,

en sê die wolf: “Nou’s jy my Darling.”

 

Hier’s ‘n les: Wees nés Rooikappie.

Luister áltyd na jou pappie.

Maar beslis nie na jou ouma.

Anders wag verdriet en trouma …"

 

 - Philip de Vos

 

 

 Terminology

Toutologie: Tortolgy - To say the same thing twice  

Contrast: Contrast a she is an innocent, small deer and he is a large, fat, smoking man. 

Assonasie: The repetition of vowel sound 

Alliterasie: The religion of consonant sounds

Parrym: Rhyme pair (AABB CCDD EEFF)

 

English Translation 

Little red riding hood walks in the forest

On the way to her grandmother, but she got such a big fright, 

and she nearly fainted because BMW barely missed her.  

 

And behind the the steering wheel, fat, 

full of Old Spice and a cigeratte

sits Hendrik Janse van der Colff

known as road hog, and a wolf. 

 

"Do you want a lift, dear girl?

Then I can give you a cold beer" 

But this good child Red Riding Hood

thinks about the words from her dad: 

 

Beware of strangers,

with their lollipops and things... 

Thinking of this, she says, "No!" 

And she only hears car tires screaming.

 

But when she arrives at her Gradnmothers house,

she was shocked and astonished, 

because next to her grandmother, in the double bed,

lay Hendrik Janse, wide and fat.

 

Her grandmother sighs: "My yearning was great, 

because grandfather has been dead so long..." (She wants sex)

Then the two of them sip on a Carling ,

And the wolf says: "Now you are my Darling." (He is speaking to the grandmother)

 

Here is a lesson: Be just like Red Riding Hood.

Always listen to your dad. 

But definitely don't believe your grandmother (or be like her). 

Otherwise sorrow and trauma awaits you...

 

Vocabulary

  • Woud: forest

  • Skrik: got a fright

  • Flou Val: fainted

  • Net-net: barely

  • Stuurwiel: steering wheel

  • Bankend: known

  • Padvark: Road hog

  • Darie: daardie

  • Waarskuwing: warning

  • Gedagtig: thinking of p

  • Motorbande: car tires

  • Verstom: Astonished

  • Naas: next to

  • Nood was groom: Great was my yearning

  • Sluk: swallow

  • Nes (net soos): just like

  • Beslis: Deninitely

  • Anders: otherwise

  • Verdriet: sorrow

  • Geleentheid: opportunity

  • Pedofiel/pervert: Pervert