by
Edwin Bormann (1851 - 1912)
Der alte Marabu
Language: German (Deutsch)
(Eine traurige Geschichte)
Im Schneegebirge Hindukuh
Da sitzt ein alter Marabu
Auf einem Fels von Nagelfluh
Und drückt das rechte Auge zu.
Weßhalb wohl, fragst du, Leser, nu,
Weßhalb wohl sitzt der Marabu
Im Schneegebirge Hindukuh
Auf einem Fels von Nagelfluh
Und drückt das rechte Auge zu?
Hab' Dank, o lieber Leser du,
Für dein Int'ress' am Marabu!
Allein weßhalb im Hindukuh
Er drückt das rechte Auge zu
Auf einem Fels von Nagelfluh -
Weiß ich so wenig als wie du!
Text Authorship:
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):
- ENG English (Gary Bachlund) , "The old Marabou", copyright © 2001, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2007-05-14
Line count: 16
Word count: 80
The old Marabou
Language: English after the German (Deutsch)
(A sad tale)
In snow-capped Hindu-Cow
sits an old Marabou
on a sedimentary rock
and closes his right eye.
Why is it, you ask, reader, then,
why is it the Marabou sits
in snow-capped Hindu-Cow
on a sedimentary rock
and closes his right eye?
Be grateful, o dear reader, you,
for your interest in Marabou!
Alone does he know in Hindu-Cow
why he closes his right eye
on a sedimentary rock --
I know little more than you!
Translator's notes: The marabou is a large black-and-white African carrion-eating stork, Leptoptilos crumeniferus, with a very short naked neck and a straight heavy bill.
The place name, Hindukuh, is made up of the Hindu area and the word for a cow, perhaps the sacred cow of the Hindus. Nagelfluh is a sedimentary rock made largely of crsystalline quartz and feldspar.
Text Authorship:
Based on:
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [
Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-03-11
Line count: 16
Word count: 77