[Es]1 war ein niedlich' Zeiselein,
Das träumte nachts im Mondenschein:
Es säh am Himmel Stern [bei]2 Stern,
Davon [wär]3 jeder ein Hirsekern.
Und als es geflogen [himmelauf]4,
Da pickte das Zeislein die Sterne auf,
Piep - 
Wie war das im [Traume]5 so lieb!

Und als die [Sonne]6 beschien den Baum,
[Erwachte]7 das Zeislein [von seinem]8 Traum.
Es [wetzte]9 [das Schnäblein]10 her und hin
Und [sprach]11 verwundert in seinem Sinn:
"Nun hab [ich]12 gepickt die ganze Nacht
Und [bin]13 [doch so hungrig]14 aufgewacht!
Ping -
Das ist [mir]15 ein [närrisches]16 Ding!"

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Doebber: "Das"; further changes may exist not shown above.
² Wallnöfer: "an"
³ Kügele: "war"
⁴ Blech: "zum Himmel hinauf"
⁵ Blech: "Traum"
⁶ Kügele: "Sonn'"
⁷ Kügele: "Erwacht"
⁸ Kügele: "aus dem"
⁹ Blech: "wetzt"; Kügele: "wetzt'"
¹⁰ Blech, Wintzer, Zemlinsky: "das Schnäbelchen"; Wallnöfer: "sein Schnäbelchen"
¹¹ Wallnöfer: "denket"
¹² Wallnöfer: "es"
¹³ Wallnöfer: "ist"
¹⁴ Blech: "so hungrig noch"
¹⁵ Wallnöfer: "doch"
¹⁶ Blech: "närrisch"

Authorship:

• by Victor August Eberhard Blüthgen (1844 - 1920), "Des Zeisigs Traum", appears in Im Kinderparadies, no. 3 [author's text checked 1 time 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 Leo Blech (1871 - 1958), "Der Traum", op. 24 no. 4 [ voice and piano ], from Acht Liedchen großen und kleinen Kindern vorzusingen, Dritte Folge, no. 4, Universal Edition [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Johannes Doebber (1866 - 1921), "Der Traum", op. 27 (Drei Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 2, published 1900 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Wernthal [sung text not yet checked]
• by Joseph Haas (1879 - 1960), "Der Traum", op. 7 (Sieben Lieder) no. 2 (1904/5) [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Henning Karl Adam von Koss (1855 - 1913), "Der Traum", op. 23 (Vier Lieder für 1 Singstimme mit Pianoforte) no. 4, published 1896 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Glas [sung text not yet checked]
• by Richard Kügele (1850 - 1926), "Zeisleins Traum" [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Anna Müller , "Der Traum", published 1889 [ voice and piano ], from Vier Kinderlieder mit leichter Pianofortebegleitung, no. 3, Frankfurt a/M., Firnberg [sung text not yet checked]
• by Karl Guido Nakonz (1833 - 1907), "Der Traum", op. 6 no. 10, published 1885 [ voice and piano ], from Kinderlieder, Heft IV, no. 10, Leipzig, Fritzsch [sung text not yet checked]
• by Friedrich August Naubert (1839 - 1897), "Zeisleins Traum", op. 33 (Sechs Lieder für zwei Kinderstimmen mit Pianoforte ) no. 2, published 1885 [ vocal duet for children's voices with piano ], Kassel, Voigt [sung text not yet checked]
• by Fürchtegott Ernst August Riedel (1855 - 1929), "Der Traum", op. 19, Heft 2 no. 4, published 1890 [ mixed chorus a cappella ], from Sechs humoristische Lieder für gemischten Chor, no. 4, Leipzig, Siegel [sung text not yet checked]
• by Margarete Voigt-Schweikert (1887 - 1957), "Der Traum - Aus dem Kinderparadies in ganz kindlicher Weise seiner Mama komponiert von einem Kinde", 1906 [ voice and piano ], unpublished [sung text not yet checked]
• by Adolf Wallnöfer (1854 - 1946), "Das Zeiselein", op. 97 (Duette für hohe und tiefe stimmen) no. 6 [ vocal duet with piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Richard Wintzer (1866 - 1952), "Der Traum" [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Victor von Woikowsky-Biedau (1866 - 1935), "Der Traum", op. 17 (Sechs Gesänge für 1 Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung) no. 4, published 1899 [ voice and piano ], Berlin, Siegel [sung text not yet checked]
• by Alexander Zemlinsky (1871 - 1942), "Der Traum", op. 2 (Dreizehn Lieder für eine Singstimme und Klavier), Heft 2 no. 3 (1894-6), published 1897 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

• ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "The Dream", copyright ©
• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Research team for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 90

There was a sweet little greenfinch
that dreamed all night in the moonlight:
It saw in the sky star upon star,
and every one was a millet seed.
And when it flew up into the sky,
the greenfinch pecked at the stars.
Peep -
how lovely it was in the dream!

And when the sun warmed the tree,
the little greenfinch awoke from its dream.
It opened and closed its beak
and said with astonishment to itself:
"I've been pecking the whole night
and yet I've woken up so hungry!
Ping -
That seems such a stupid thing to me!"