Book of Mormon Stories

[MikeWaters]

Originally Posted by TripletDaddy

In the old Spanish hymn book, there was this song called "Lavemonos los dientes," which, roughly translated, means "We Should Brush our Teeth."

I cannot remember the lyrics entirely, but they went something like this (translated from Spanish to English):

"I will not brush my teeth," a small child exclaimed
"I already combed my hair and washed my face...That's enough is for me!"

The germs in his mouth heard this
And fearlessly came out to have a party.

That song was rad. It frustrated the mission president, though, because we would often pick that song to sing in meetings or gatherings....the person conducting would ask someone to pick a hymn. Since Lavemonos Los Dientes was in the hymn book, it was fair game.

Towards the end of my mission, President banned Lavemonos Los Dientes.

I checked the current Children's Songbook and the former Primary songbook, Sing with Me. That song is not in either one, nor in the current or former hymnbooks. So, I figured I'd give you the Laser Jock interpretive translation of the song. I'll also include the original lyrics for people who may not have Himnos de Sión.

Los dientes no me lavaré,
Un niño exclamó
Ya me lavé, ya me peiné,
con eso me bastó.
Mas en su boca se oyó
un grito de placer,
Y los microbios sin temor,
salieron a comer.

Dijeron, llenos de placer:
Aquí hay buen hogar
Entre sus dientes sin lavar,
podremos festejar.
Oyó el nino de su plan
y pronto se lavó,
A los microbios el mató,
ni uno escapó.

Okay, anyone who can understand Spanish is probably laughing right now. I know I was. Here's the translation (really!):

I will not brush my teeth,
A little child cried out
I already washed, I already combed,
that's good enough for me.
But you could hear
a cry of joy in his mouth
As the fearless germs
came out to eat.

They joyfully said:
We have a good home
And between your unbrushed teeth
we can celebrate
The child heard their plan
and quickly he brushed,
He killed the germs,
not even one escaped.

Now that you've read my version, you can check it against the actual version. I called the BYU library, and an extremely helpful librarian found the song for me. (Aren't those librarians amazing? ) It's called "Tooth Bugs," and is in The Primary song book, published in 1939. It's listed in two places in the HBLL: in the Music Library, under M 2129 .C48 P74 1939, and in the Americana Collection, under BX 8685.27 .A1p 1939.

Unfortunately, I can't currently go there to check my translation against the original. However, you are more than welcome to do so. If there are any discrepancies, I'm sure they occurred in the first translation from English to Spanish, and not in mine back to English.

-Laser Jock

http://theboard.byu.edu/index.php?ar....19&archives=1

[TripletDaddy]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

http://theboard.byu.edu/index.php?ar....19&archives=1

YES! Freaking rock ON, Lavemonos Los Dientes!

That is the one.

I hadn't sung that tune in 16 years, so my memory wasn't too bad.

I forgot about the violent, Godfather-baptism scene ending of that hymn.

[DapperDan]

Originally Posted by TripletDaddy

I have never heard of the two fingers behind the head thing. We do an arm motion to indicate coming from across the sea.

We also do the arm folding at the end:

Given this land (extend right arm)
If they live (extend left arm)
Righ (fold right arm over left)
teous (fold left arm over right)
ly! (bow or nod head once).

In hindsight, these actions may not be appropriate. In lieu of the arm motions, we are going to ask our kids to hang out on the porch, drink, and buy new pickup trucks every year.

Teaching kids to mock of I Dream of Jeanie is reprehensible!