Mit Mädchen sich vertragen,
Mit Männern 'rumgeschlagen,
Und mehr Credit als Geld;
So kommt man durch die Welt.
Mit vielem läßt sich schmausen;
Mit wenig läßt sich hausen;
Daß wenig vieles sey,
Schafft nur die Lust herbei.
...
Note: the text above is taken from stanzas 1-2 of the original text.
Confirmed with Goethe's Werke, Vollständige Ausgabe lezter Hand, Zehnter Band, Stuttgart und Tübingen, in der J.G.Cotta'schen Buchhandlung, 1827, pages 217-218; and with Goethe's Werke, Erster Band. Gedichte. Erster Theil, mit Einleitung und Anmerkungen von G. von Loeper, Zweite Ausgabe. Verlag von Gustav Hempel, Berlin, 1882, page 83 (Gesellige Lieder).
See also the text from the first version of Claudine von Villa Bella, which shares the first four lines.
Composition:
Text Authorship:
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2021, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "De meisjes laten lachen", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Malcolm Wren) , "Cheeky and cheerful", copyright © 2006, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "S'entendre avec les filles", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Alle ragazze fare la corte", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust
[Administrator] , Peter Rastl
[Guest Editor] This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 99
Getting on with girls,
Kicking about with men,
Having more credit than cash:
That's how you get by in the world.
With a lot you can indulge yourself,
With a little you can live;
Making a little be a lot
Can create pleasure.
...
