Mein Handwerk geht durch alle Welt,
Und bringt mir manchen Thaler Geld.
Deß bin ich hoch vergnügt.
Den Tischler braucht ein jeder Stand:
Schon wird das Kind durch meine Hand
[Im]1 sanften Schlaf gewiegt.
Das Bette zu der Hochzeitnacht
Wird auch durch meinen Fleiß gemacht,
Und künstlich angemahlt.
Ein Geizhals sei auch noch so karg,
Er braucht [am Ende]2 einen Sarg,
Und der wird gut bezahlt.
Drum hab' ich immer frohen Muth,
Und mache meine Arbeit gut,
[Es sei Tisch oder]3 Schrank.
Und wer bei mir [brav]4 viel bestellt,
Und zahlt mir immer baares Geld,
Dem sag' ich großen Dank.
Available sung texts: (what is this?)
• F. Schubert View original text (without footnotes)
Confirmed with Der Bürger. Eine Wochenschrift. Erstes Quartal. Halberstadt, gedrukt und zu finden bei Joh. Friedr. Delius, 1779, page 56; and with Handwerkslieder, auf Gelagen und Morgensprachen, oder beym Feyerabend, zu singen. Leipzig und Dessau, in der Buchhandlung der Gelehrten 1783, page 66.
1 1783 print, and Schubert: "In"
2 1783 print: "zuletzt doch"
3 1783 print: "Kommode, Tisch und"
4 1783 print: "recht"
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "La cançó del fuster", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "Meubelmakerslied", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ENG English (Malcolm Wren) , "Carpenter's song", copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Le chant du menuisier", copyright © 2010, (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: 18
Word count: 104
The work I produce with my hands goes through all the world
And brings me many a dollar in income,
Which I am extremely pleased about.
People from all walks of life need the carpenter;
By means of my hand the child will soon
Be lulled into a gentle sleep.
The bed for the wedding night
Will also be made by means of my industry
And put together artistically.
However stingy a miser is
At the end of the day he needs a coffin,
And those things pay well.
So I am always in a good humour
And I do my work well
Whether it be a table or a cupboard.
And to those who are good enough to order a lot
And always pay me in ready cash,
To them I say, 'Thank you very much'.