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It is illegal to copy and distribute our copyright-protected material without permission. It is also illegal to reprint copyright texts or translations without the name of the author or translator.

To inquire about permissions and rates, contact Emily Ezust at licenses@email.lieder.example.net

If you wish to reprint translations, please make sure you include the names of the translators in your email. They are below each translation.

Note: You must use the copyright symbol © when you reprint copyright-protected material.

by Siegfried Kapper (1821 - 1879)
Translation © by Emily Ezust

Ruft die Mutter, ruft der Tochter
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the Serbian (Српски) 
Our translations:  CAT DUT ENG FRE
Ruft die Mutter, ruft der Tochter
Über drei Gebirge:
"Ist, o Mara, liebe Tochter,
Ist gebleicht das Linnen?"
Ihr zurück die junge Tochter
Über neun Gebirge:
"Nicht in's Wasser, liebe Mutter,
Taucht' ich noch das Linnen,
Denn, o sieh', es hat das Wasser
Jawo mir getrübet. -
Wie dann erst, o liebe Mutter,
Hätt' ich es gebleicht schon!
Fluch' ihm, Mutter, liebe Mutter!
Ich auch will ihm fluchen.
Gäbe Gott im hellen Himmel,
Daß er sich erhänge -
An ein böses Bäumchen hänge,
An den weißen Hals mir!
Gäbe Gott im hellen Himmel,
Daß er lieg' gefangen -
Lieg' gefangen tief im Kerker,
An der weißen Brust mir!
Gäbe Gott, der Herr im Himmel,
Daß er Ketten trage -
Ketten trage, festgeschlungen,
Meine weißen Arme!
Gäbe Gott im hellen Himmel,
Daß ihn nähm' das Wasser -
Daß ihn nähm' das wilde Wasser,
Mir in's Haus ihn bringe!"

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Siegfried Kapper (1821 - 1879), "Fluch ihm, Mutter, ich auch will ihm fluchen", appears in Die Gesänge der Serben, Leipzig, first published 1852 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in Serbian (Српски) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , "Марина клешва", appears in Српске народне пјесме - скупио ис и на свијет издао Вук Стеф. Караџић (Srpske narodne pjesme), Volume I, page 382-383 (Poem 531).
    • Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897), "Mädchenfluch", op. 69 (Neun Gesänge) no. 9 (1877), published 1877, first performed 1878 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Simrock [sung text checked 1 time]

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

  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2022, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , "De vloek van een meisje", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "A maiden's curse", copyright ©
  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "La malédiction de la jeune fille", copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2003-11-05
Line count: 30
Word count: 142

A maiden's curse
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
The mother calls, calls to her daughter
Across three mountains:
"Is, o Mara, dear daughter,
The linen bleached?"
Back to her, the young daughter calls
Across nine mountains:
"Nothing is in the water, dear mother,
I haven't dipped the linen yet
For, you see, Jawo has
Muddied the water.
How, then, o dear mother,
Could I have bleached it?
Curse him, mother, dear mother!
I will curse him too.
May God in bright heaven grant
That he might hang himself
On a terrible little tree...
On my white neck!
May God in bright heaven grant
That he might lie imprisoned,
Imprisoned deep in a dungeon...
On my white breast!
May God grant, o lord in heaven,
That he might wear chains -
Wear chains tightly about him...
My white arms!
May God in bright heaven grant,
That the waters might seize him -
That the wild waters might seize him...
And bring him to my house!"

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.
    licenses@email.lieder.example.net

Based on:

  • a text in German (Deutsch) by Siegfried Kapper (1821 - 1879), "Fluch ihm, Mutter, ich auch will ihm fluchen", appears in Die Gesänge der Serben, Leipzig, first published 1852
    • Go to the text page.

Based on:

  • a text in Serbian (Српски) from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , "Марина клешва", appears in Српске народне пјесме - скупио ис и на свијет издао Вук Стеф. Караџић (Srpske narodne pjesme), Volume I, page 382-383 (Poem 531).
    • Go to the text page.

 

This text was added to the website: 2003-11-05
Line count: 30
Word count: 154

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

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