My German is mediocre, but in an attempt to expose my kids to the language, I got a few children’s books in German, including Bist du meine Mama?
There is a puzzling phrase at the end. The little chicken has been looking for his mama, encountering various animals and asking each in turn, “Bist du meine Mama?” When he finally finds his mom at the end and asks her the question, her reply is puzzling:
„Gack, gack,“ gackert die Henne, „und ob ich das bin!“
Translated literally, that appears to say:
“Cluck, cluck,” clucked the hen, “and if I am that!”
That doesn’t make sense, and I haven’t been able to find any alternate meaning for the words in my English–German dictionary.
I presume the gist is that she’s saying something like “I am!”, but I must be missing something with the translation. What’s she actually supposed to be saying?
