The Hunter | What, then, does the hunter seek at the mill-brook here?

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by Wilhelm Müller (1794 - 1827)

Translation © by Emily Ezust

Der Jäger

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT DUT ENG FIN FRE GRE ITA KOR POR

Was sucht denn der Jäger am Mühlbach hier?
Bleib', trotziger Jäger, in deinem Revier!
Hier giebt es kein Wild zu jagen für dich,
Hier wohnt nur ein Rehlein, ein zahmes, für mich.
Und willst du das zärtliche Rehlein sehn,
So laß deine Büchsen im Walde stehn,
Und laß deine klaffenden Hunde zu Haus,
Und laß auf dem Horne den Saus und Braus,
Und scheere vom Kinne das struppige Haar,
Sonst scheut sich im Garten das Rehlein fürwahr.

Doch besser, du bliebest im Walde dazu,
Und ließest die Mühlen und Müller in Ruh'.
Was taugen die Fischlein im grünen Gezweig?
Was will denn das Eichhorn im bläulichen Teich?
Drum bleibe, du trotziger Jäger, im Hain,
Und laß mich mit meinen drei Rädern allein;
Und willst meinem Schätzchen dich machen beliebt,
So wisse, mein Freund, was ihr Herzchen betrübt:
Die Eber, die kommen zu Nacht aus dem Hain,
Und brechen in ihren Kohlgarten ein,
Und treten und wühlen herum in dem Feld:
Die Eber, die [schieße]¹, du Jägerheld!

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• F. Schubert

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Gedichte aus den hinterlassenen Papieren eines reisenden Waldhornisten. Herausgegeben von Wilhelm Müller. Erstes Bändchen. Zweite Auflage. Deßau 1826. Bei Christian Georg Ackermann, pages 30-31; and with Sieben und siebzig Gedichte aus den hinterlassenen Papieren eines reisenden Waldhornisten. Herausgegeben von Wilhelm Müller. Dessau, 1821. Bei Christian Georg Ackermann, pages 31-32.

First published in a slightly different version with the title Als er den Jäger sah in Der Gesellschafter oder Blätter für Geist und Herz. Herausgegeben von F. W. Gubitz. Zweiter Jahrgang. Berlin, 1818. In der Maurerschen Buchhandlung. Montag den 1. Juni. 87stes Blatt, page 347.

¹ Schubert: "schieß"

Text Authorship:

by Wilhelm Müller (1794 - 1827), "Der Jäger", appears in Gedichte aus den hinterlassenen Papieren eines reisenden Waldhornisten 1, in Die schöne Müllerin, no. 16, first published 1818 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Franz Peter Schubert (1797 - 1828), "Der Jäger", op. 25 no. 14, D 795 no. 14 (1823), from Die schöne Müllerin, no. 14 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

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: 22
Word count: 168

The Hunter

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

What, then, does the hunter seek at the mill-brook here?
Remain, presumptuous hunter, in your own hunting-grounds!
Here there is no game for you to hunt;
Here dwells only a little doe, a tame one, for me.
And if you wish to see the tender doe,
Then leave your guns in the woods,
And leave your barking dogs at home,
And stop the horn from blowing and hooting,
And clip from your chin your shaggy hair;
Otherwise the doe will hide itself away in the garden.

Or better yet, remain in the forest
And leave the mills and the miller in peace!
What use are fishes in green branches?
What would the squirrel want in a blue pond? 
Therefore stay, presumptuous hunter, in the meadow,
And leave me with my three wheels alone!
And if you would like to make yourself liked by my sweetheart,
Then know, friend, what troubles her heart:
The boars, they come at night from the grove
And break into her cabbage-garden
And tread and wallow around in the field.
The boars - shoot them, you hunter-hero.

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) by Wilhelm Müller (1794 - 1827), "Der Jäger", appears in Gedichte aus den hinterlassenen Papieren eines reisenden Waldhornisten 1, in Die schöne Müllerin, no. 16, first published 1818
- Go to the text page.

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 22
Word count: 180