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Die Alte erzählte dem Kinde
Das sonnige Märchen vom Glück.
Sie erzählt vom verwunschenen Königssohn
Und der boshaft grollenden Fee;
Vom Schloß am Felsenstrande,
Vom wilden Wogengebrande,
Und der Fischerhütte am See.
Und der Prinz vertrauerte Jahr um Jahr
Als Schlange im dumpfigen Grund . . .
Er wand sich in goldenen Ketten, --
Ein Kuß nur konnte ihn retten,
Ein Kuß von rosigem Mund.
Des Fischer's liebliches Töchterlein
Trug hohen, herrlichen Sinn.
Sie sprengte die Ketten von Golde:
Er aber machte die Holde
Zu seiner Königin!
...
Großmutter, wie schön, o wie einzig schön!
Großmutter, o wäre das wahr!
Großmutter, mir würde nicht bange --
Wie gerne umarmt' ich die Schlange,
Trotz Schauer und Todesgefahr . . . !
Warum nur hat man das Alles gedacht,
Wenn's nie sich auf Erden begab . . . ?
Mir wird in der Seele so wehe,
Wie in des Kirchhofs Nähe,
Wie vor des Vaters Grab . . . !
Sei stark, Du zitterndes Kinderherz,
Und dränge die Thräne zurück!
Uns Alle hat es belogen,
Uns Alle hat es betrogen,
Das sonnige Märchen vom Glück.
Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-4,6-8 of the original text.
Composition:
- Set to music by Johan Selmer (1844 - 1910), "Das Märchen vom Glück", op. 29, Heft 1 no. 5, published 1889, stanzas 1-4,6-8 [ medium voice and piano ], from Eine kleine Anthologie. 10 deutsche Gedichte für 1 mittlere Singstimme und Pianoforte, no. 5, Leipzig und Hamburg: Fritz Schuberth jr.
Text Authorship:
- by Ernst Eckstein (1845 - 1900), "Das Märchen vom Glück", appears in In Moll und Dur, in 2. Zweite Abtheilung
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Sharon Krebs) , "The fairy-tale of happiness", copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Sharon Krebs [Senior Associate Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2014-07-11
Line count: 40
Word count: 235
They are alone, for the mother
Returns only at night from the field . . . .
The linden tree soughs through the window, --
And the old woman tells the child
The sunny fairy-tale of happiness.
She tells of the enchanted prince
And the spiteful, glowering fairy;
Of the castle upon the rocky beach,
Of the wild surging of the waves,
And the fisherman’s hut at the lake.
And the prince mourned away year upon year
As a snake in the gloomy vale . . .
He writhed in glowing chains, --
Only a kiss could save him,
A kiss from rosy lips.
The fisherman's lovely daughter
Had a lofty, radiant spirit.
She broke the golden chains:
But he made the lovely one
His queen!
...
Grandmother, how lovely, oh how singularly lovely!
Grandmother, oh, were that true!
Grandmother, I would not be afraid, -
How gladly I should embrace the snake
Despite horror and deathly peril!
Why only did they think all that up
If it never happened upon the earth . . . ?
I feel such woe in my soul,
As I feel near the churchyard,
As I feel standing before my father's grave!
Be strong, you trembling heart of the child,
And fight back the tears!
It has deceived us all,
It has tricked us all,
The sunny fairy-tale of happiness!
Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-4,6-8 of the original text.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from German (Deutsch) to English copyright © 2022 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.
Contact: licenses@email.lieder.example.net
Based on:
- a text in German (Deutsch) by Ernst Eckstein (1845 - 1900), "Das Märchen vom Glück", appears in In Moll und Dur, in 2. Zweite Abtheilung
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This text was added to the website: 2022-04-08
Line count: 40
Word count: 256