Willi, sitz!

Yes, and so it went again. He bit my daughter's teeth three times and I was so happy. The first time the dentist laughed heartily, the second time she had a smile on her face. The third time I had to bring Willi with me. Then she chewed all his teeth, made his dentures and when I go to work in the morning, I'll take them with me. (from: Willi, sitz!) Can you really imagine Hildegard Bachmann saying to Johann Lafer in a television programme in front of thousands of viewers? 'My dear Johann, let's be honest: if I tell the truth about the salad now, you'll be out of a job tomorrow' (Johann Lafer and I). Or Romeo and Juliet in Rheinhessen - how is that supposed to work? It's quite simple: Romeo becomes the son of an asparagus farmer in Finth and Juliet the daughter of an apple orchard owner in Drais: "She calls eight plots in Draas her oak, which she sometimes draws for me. That's why I finally want to own them, because otherwise the plots won't do me any good. (Romeo and Juliet in Rhoihessian) And for all those who no longer know what a Meggeldasch or a Schminzje is, Hildegard Bachmann has come up with a wonderful story in which she uses many expressions that are no longer so common in Mainz dialect (and translates them into High German in brackets): Vum Karlche. In her thirteenth dialect book, Hildegard Bachmann once again scores with her inimitable mixture of self-irony, bizarre everyday stories and heart-warming memories.