???? ???? ?????
?????, ?????:
????????? ????? ?????? ?????
????????? ????? ?????? ?? ?????
????????? ????? ?? ?????, ?? ??? ??,
???? ???????:
??????? ????? ??????? ??,
??????? ??,
?????? ??????,
????? ??????,
??????? ??????…

???? ???? ????????? ???? ??????
??????? ??? ???? ????????
???-???? ????,
??????? ???????,
??????? ????? ??? ?? ?????

Thumb said: “Coming, coming they are coming,”

Forefinger said: “Who is coming?”

Middle finger said: “Wolves are coming.”

Ring finger said: “Let’s run away, hurry, hurry.”

Little finger said: “I’m so small,

I’m so tiny,

I’ve got no feet,

Nor have I wings,

How can I walk or run away!”

And so Thumb said: “We won’t run away,

We won’t retreat from wolves in dismay,

We will stand shoulder to shoulder,

We’ll become one fist

And get the power!”

My informant learned this nursery rhyme from her mother around the age of three.  She and her mother would sing this song sometimes before bedtime or if she could not sleep.  My informant’s mother learned this from her mother who is full-blooded Armenian and passed it down to my informant.

This nursery rhyme is also a finger game. Whenever a finger talks you move it like it is speaking and then put it down.  By the end of the song, all the fingers are down and a fist is made.

My informant says this nursery rhyme is mainly sung by children since it is also a finger game.  She says many children sing this in groups together at school or even when playing together.

My informant plans to teach this game to her children because it was a part of her Armenian childhood that she remembers.