by Georg Friedrich Daumer (1800 - 1875)
Translation © by Emily Ezust

Ein kleiner, hübscher Vogel
Language: German (Deutsch)  after the Hungarian (Magyar) 
Our translations:  AFR CAT DUT DUT ENG ENG FIN FRE ITA
Ein kleiner, hübscher Vogel
nahm den Flug
zum Garten hin,
da gab es Obst genug.
Wenn ich ein hübscher,
kleiner Vogel wär,
ich säumte nicht,
ich täte so wie der.

Leimruten-Arglist
lauert an dem Ort;
der arme Vogel
konnte nicht mehr fort.
Wenn ich ein hübscher,
kleiner Vogel wär,
ich säumte doch,
ich täte nicht wie der. 

Der Vogel kam
in eine schöne Hand,
da tat es ihm,
dem Glücklichen, nicht and.
Wenn ich ein hübscher,
kleiner Vogel wär,
ich säumte nicht,
ich täte doch wie der.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

Based on:

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):

  • AFR Afrikaans [singable] (Robert Schall) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Pauline Kroger) , copyright © 2005, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • DUT Dutch (Nederlands) [singable] (Lau Kanen) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "A small, pretty bird", copyright ©
  • ENG English [singable] (Robert Schall) , copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , copyright © 2017, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Un joli petit oiseau", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 87

A small, pretty bird
Language: English  after the German (Deutsch) 
A small, pretty bird
took flight
into the garden -
there was fruit enough there.
If I were a pretty,
small bird,
I would not hesitate -
I would do just as he did.

Malicious lime-twigs
lurked in that place;
the poor bird
could not escape.
If I were a pretty,
small bird,
I would have hesitated,
I would not have done that.

The bird came
into a pretty girl's hand,
and it caused him no pain,
the lucky thing.
If I were a pretty,
small bird,
I would not hesitate --
I would do just as he did.

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.


Based on:

Based on:

 

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 96