A boy looks up into the apple-tree
and watches a girl picking apples.
Then he says: "Please, throw one
down into my hat!"

The girl grasps one from her basket;
the boy looks at it
and says reproachfully: "That one I don't like,
that's not what I expected.

I want a beautiful apple,
round, fresh and fine,
and its cheeks should be white and red
like blood and milk!"

Now the lass gives him her most beautiful one;
that one he takes with pleasure,
but already with his first bite
he finds a worm instead of the core.

"You've been served quite right," says the girl,
because you're only after beauty!
Beauty isn't be found in the face,
beauty lies in the heart!"

Quickly the boy throws the apple away
and picks up the plain one again,
but the lass says: "Don't bother,
you'll never get this apple anymore.

The plain apple, that's me,
therefore I cannot please you.
Bye-bye, my dear boy,
let a girl be painted for you!"