A maiden once asked her aunt

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by Anna (Nuhn) Ritter (1865 - 1921)

Translation © by Sharon Krebs

Hat einmal ein Mädel die Muhme gefragt

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT ENG

Hat einmal ein Mädel die Muhme gefragt,
Was Liebe denn eigentlich sei?
Da machte die Alte ein pfiffig Gesicht
Und lachte so eigen dabei.
 
"Die Liebe? Das ist ein verschlossener Schrein,
Sieht außen gar unschuldig aus,
Doch hebst du im Fürwitz den Deckel, mein Kind,
Springt hurtig ein Teufelchen 'raus."
 
Das Mägdlein ist 'gangen, es ließ ihm der Spruch
Der Alten nicht Frieden noch Ruh',
Stand bald mit dem lustigen Teufelein
Im Kästchen auf "Du und Du."

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• O. Hess • M. Reger

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Confirmed with Anna Ritter, Gedichte, Neunte Auflage, Stuttgart und Berlin: J.G. Cotta'sche Buchhandlung Nachfolger, 1900, page 129.

Text Authorship:

by Anna (Nuhn) Ritter (1865 - 1921), "Pythia", appears in Gedichte, in 2. Vermischte Gedichte, no. 37 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

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Research team for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani , Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor], Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website: 2008-07-06
Line count: 12
Word count: 82

A maiden once asked her aunt

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Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

A maiden once asked her aunt:
What is love, actually?
The old lady made a canny face
And laughed so peculiarly the while.

"Love? It is a sealed shrine
That looks quite innocent from the outside,
But if you lift the lid in curiosity, my child,
A little devil will leap out swiftly.

The maiden went away, what the old lady had said
Left her neither peace nor rest,
And soon she and the merry little devil
In the box were intimately acquainted.

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Translations of title(s):
"Hat einmal ein Mädel die Muhme gefragt" = "A maiden once asked her aunt"
"Pythia" = "Pythia"

Text Authorship:

Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2023 by Sharon Krebs, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Anna (Nuhn) Ritter (1865 - 1921), "Pythia", appears in Gedichte, in 2. Vermischte Gedichte, no. 37
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This text was added to the website: 2023-10-21
Line count: 12
Word count: 86