English translations of Zwei humoristische Lieder mit Pianoforte, opus 56

That the earth turns,
Who proclaimed that to us?
Old Galileo,
He made the discovery.

For thirty years he had
Ruminated day and night,
Tore at his beard and his hair
And brought nothing forth.

Then one day he spoke:
"Now I am utterly sick of it;
I shall go to a tavern
Where there are good wines!

The silly telescopes 
Have long disgusted me!
Of what use are glasses
Out of which one cannot drink?"

And at the tavern table
Galileo seated himself,
And with wine the old boy
Refreshed himself.

The wine was clear and golden
And it went down smoothly;
The old chap said: "I think
That is the wine of comets.

Another full bottle,
Tavern-keeper, if you will,
With one you cannot perform calculations,
Mankind adheres to the system!"

And after the second bottle,
He began to feel
As if there were something strange
About the earth. 

But after the third [bottle]
It became utterly clear to him,
How indisputably shaky
His whole viewpoint was.

He tottered out the door
And stood upon the marketplace, --
There the world spun around
With him in a circle,

And turrets and houses flew, --
Thereupon he called out jubilantly:
"Hooray, the earth revolves!
Now I have finally figured it out!"

From that, little brethren, comprehend
The value of empiricism,
And how in wine is heralded
The slumbering genius!

That is the right spot:
The linden tree at the marge of the street
And yonder the old chapel;
Here is the rendezvous.
The stars are in the sky,
The bell in the village strikes eight.
There is nothing to be seen of Elsbeth --
I thought that's how it would be.

I wager she cannot tear herself away
From the mirror at home on the wall
And is fussing with buckle and necklace
And twitching her kerchief and ribbons.
In the end she will let me wait
The whole long night.
Indeed, she is making a fool of me. --
I thought that's how it would be.

Perhaps -- oh you false serpent!
Now it is suddenly clear to me
Why Frieder, the tall one,
Was so merry this morning.
Shock paralyses my limbs,
I am betrayed, ridiculed,
Elsbeth has a liaison with Frieder. --
I thought that's how it would be.

I lift my hands to make a vow
To the starry sky -- but wait,
What is coming over the meadowed terrain
From the village floatingly?
I see two adorable feet,
They approach tentatively and gently.
She is coming, the faithful one, the sweet one. --
I thought that's how it would be.