The crocodile | In a sacred pond in Singapore

Attention! Some of this material is not in the public domain.

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 Hermann von Lingg (1820 - 1905)

Translation © by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947)

Im heil'gen Teich zu Singapur

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Im heil'gen Teich zu Singapur
Da liegt ein altes Krokodil
Von äußerst grämlicher Natur
Und kaut an einem Lotosstiel.

Es ist ganz alt und völlig blind,
Und wenn es einmal friert des Nachts,
So weint es wie ein kleines Kind,
Doch, wenn ein schöner Tag ist, lacht's.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Hermann von Lingg (1820 - 1905), "Das Krokodil zu Singapur", appears in Vermischte Gedichte [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 Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Das Krokodil", 2001 [ bass and piano ], from Das tierische Lied von der Erde, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Frédéric Louis Ritter (1826 - 1891), "Das Krokodil zu Singapur", op. 7 (Fünf vierstimmige Männerchöre ) no. 3, published 1872 [ four-part men's chorus ], Leipzig, Schuberth und Co. [sung text not yet checked]

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

ENG English (Gary Bachlund) , "The crocodile", copyright © 2001, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2007-05-13
Line count: 8
Word count: 47

The crocodile

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

In a sacred pond in Singapore
lay an old crocodile,
seemingly of sullen disposition
and chewed on a lotus blossom.
He was very old and completely blind,
and when the night was cold
he cried like a little child,
but when the day was lovely, he laughed.

Text Authorship:

by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "The crocodile", copyright © 2001, (re)printed on this website with kind permission [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Hermann von Lingg (1820 - 1905), "Das Krokodil zu Singapur", appears in Vermischte Gedichte
- Go to the text page.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-03-11
Line count: 8
Word count: 47