Slumber deep

Let’s make another trip to Czechia for today’s Advent carol. It’s jumping the gun, some, because it’s about the baby in the manger. But, look—we’re within a week of the big night, so I’m going for it.

We in the English-speaking world know “Hajej, Nynej, Jezisku” as “The Rocking Carol”. It’s a lullaby, as sung by the animals in the stable. They open with, “Little Jesus, sweetly sleep, do not stir, we will lend a coat of fur,” and they promise to rock him gently.

Technically, the animals in the stable—the oxen, the ass, the sheep brought in by the shepherds—they don’t have fur, really. But if there were stable cats—I can see them offering to snuggle up to the baby and purr him to sleep. Even a sheepdog—entirely possible that, with the sheep all corralled, the dog would be off duty and overjoyed to curl up with the infant. I love the image this conjures up in my mind.

Here’s what I take to be a Czech choir singing it:

If you want it in English, here’s Chanticleer:

(I searched around for something from England, but I swear all their choirs sing it at an excruciatingly slow pace. It’s a lullaby, not a dirge.)