Little guests in your mouse-hole house

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by Eduard Mörike (1804 - 1875)

Translation © by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947)

Mausfallensprüchlein

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: CAT ENG ENG FRE ITA

Kleine Gäste, kleines Haus.
Liebe Mäusin oder Maus,
[Stell]¹ dich nur kecklich ein
[Heut']² nacht bei Mondenschein!
Mach aber die [Tür]³ fein hinter dir zu,
Hörst du?
[Dabei]⁴ hüte dein Schwänzchen!
Nach Tische singen wir,
Nach Tische springen wir
Und machen ein Tänzchen:
Witt witt!
Meine alte Katze tanzt wahrscheinlich mit.

Available sung texts: (what is this?)

• F. Holstein • H. Wolf

View original text (without footnotes)

Note: The poem is preceded by this line: "(Das Kind geht dreimal um die Falle und spricht:)"

¹ Holstein, Wolf: "Stelle"
² Holstein, Wolf: "Heute"
³ Holstein: "Türe"
⁴ Holstein: "Hüte, ja"

Text Authorship:

by Eduard Mörike (1804 - 1875), "Mausfallen-Sprüchlein" [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), "Mausfallen-Sprüchlein", 2009 [ medium voice or high voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
by Hugo Distler (1908 - 1942), "Mausfallensprüchlein", op. 19 (Mörike-Chorliederbuch), Heft 2 no. 5 (1939) [ chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Franz von Holstein (1826 - 1878), "Mausfallen-Sprüchlein", op. 15 (Vierzehn Lieder für zwei weibliche Stimmen (im Freien zu singen)) no. 12, published 1864 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Robert von Hornstein (1833 - 1890), "Mausfallensprüchlein", op. 22 (2 Gedichte v. E. Mörike) no. 2, published 1862 [ alto or baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by (Karl) Emil Kauffmann (1836 - 1909), "Mausfallensprüchlein", op. 13 (Vier Lieder) no. 2, published 1879 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], Stuttgart, Zumsteeg [sung text not yet checked]
by Jean-Pierre Waelbroeck (b. 1954), "Mausfallen-Sprüchlein", 1994 [sung text not yet checked]
by Hugo Wolf (1860 - 1903), "Mausfallensprüchlein", 1882, from Sechs Lieder für eine Frauenstimme, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]

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

CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , "Proverbi de la ratera", copyright © 2021, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ENG English (Emily Ezust) , "A little mousetrap epigram", copyright ©
ENG English (Gary Bachlund) , rhymed paraphrase, copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , "Petit épigramme de la souricière", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , "Piccolo motto della trappola per topi", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

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

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 51

Little guests in your mouse‑hole house

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

Little guests in your mouse-hole house.
Lovely Miss or Mister Mouse,
Prepare yourself, bold and bright,
This evening in the pale moonlight!
Be very sure to lock your door!
Got that? And then, do wait for more!
You'll preserve your tail, for sure!
After dining, raucous singing starts --
Oh, after dinner we'll take our parts
And have some lively dancing:
Sniff! Smell!
My old cats might dance too near to where you dwell!

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), rhymed paraphrase, copyright © 2009, (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 Eduard Mörike (1804 - 1875), "Mausfallen-Sprüchlein"
- Go to the text page.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-02-02
Line count: 12
Word count: 73