Who thought up this little song? | Up there, in a high-up house

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from Volkslieder (Folksongs)

Translation © by Emily Ezust

Wer hat dies Liedlein erdacht?

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT ENG FRE RUS SPA

Dort [oben]¹ in dem hohen Haus,
Da guckt ein fein's lieb's Mädel heraus,
Es ist nicht dort daheime,
Es ist des Wirts sein Töchterlein,
Es wohnt auf grüner Heide.

Und wer das Mädel haben will, 
Muß tausend Taler finden
Und muß sich auch verschwören,
Nie mehr zu Wein zu gehen,
Des Vaters Gut verzehren.

"Mein Herze ist wund,
komm Schätzel mach's gesund!
Dein schwarzbraune Äuglein, 
Die haben mich vertwundt!

Dein rosiger Mund
Macht Herzen gesund.
Macht Jugend verständig,
Macht Tote lebendig,
Macht Kranke gesund."

Wer hat denn das schöne Liedlein erdacht?
Es haben's drei Gäns übers Wasser gebracht,
Zwei graue und eine weiße;
Und wer das Liedlein nicht singen kann,
Dem wollen sie es pfeifen.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• G. Mahler

G. Mahler sets stanzas 1, 3-5

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Mahler: "oben am Berg"

Text Authorship:

from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , appears in Des Knaben Wunderhorn [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Gustav Mahler (1860 - 1911), "Wer hat dies Liedlein erdacht?", 1892, published 1899, stanzas 1,3-5 [ voice and orchestra or piano ], from Lieder aus "Des Knaben Wunderhorn" (formerly "Humoresken"), no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Karl Weigl (1881 - 1949), "Wer hat dies Liedlein erdacht?", op. 25 (8 Frauenchöre a capella) no. 4 (1906), published 1933 [ three- or four-part women's chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "A qui se l’ha acudit aquesta cançoneta?", copyright © 2021, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "Who thought up this little song?", copyright ©
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Qui a inventé cette petite chanson ?", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
RUS Russian (Русский) (Elena Kalinina) , "Кто выдумал эту песенку?", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
SPA Spanish (Español) (Elena María Accinelli) , "A quién se le ocurrió esta cancioncilla?", copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Jakob Kellner

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 116

Who thought up this little song?

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Up [there]¹, in a high-up house,
a lovely, darling girl looks out of the window.
She does not live there:
she is the daughter of the innkeeper,
and she lives on the green meadow.

And he who would have her
would find a thousand thalers,
but he would have to swear 
never to have wine again
to have her father's property.

"My heart is sore!
Come, my treasure, make it well again!
Your dark brown eyes
have wounded me.

Your rosy mouth
makes hearts healthy.
It makes youth wise,
brings the dead to life,
gives health to the ill."

Who has thought up this pretty little song then?
It was brought over the water by three geese -
two grey and one white -
and if you cannot sing the little song,
they will whistle it for you!

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Mahler: "there on the mountain"

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © by Emily Ezust
Emily Ezust permits her translations to be reproduced without prior permission for printed (not online) programs to free-admission concerts only, provided the following credit is given:
Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
from the LiederNet Archive
For any other purpose, please write to the e-mail address below to request permission and discuss possible fees.
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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , appears in Des Knaben Wunderhorn
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 138