Finch and Frog | A finch piped up in an apple tree

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by Wilhelm Busch (1832 - 1908)

Translation © by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947)

Fink und Frosch

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

Im Apfelbaume pfeift der Fink
Sein: pinkepink!
Ein Laubfrosch klettert mühsam nach
Bis auf des Baumes Blätterdach
Und bläht sich auf und quackt: "Ja, ja!
Herr Nachbar, ick bin och noch da!"

Und wie der Vogel frisch und süß
Sein Frühlingslied erklingen ließ,
Gleich muß der Frosch in rauhen Tönen
Den Schusterbaß dazwischen dröhnen.

"Juchheija, heija!" spricht der Fink.
"Fort flieg ich flink!"
Und schwingt sich in die Lüfte hoch.

"Wat!" ruft der Frosch, "dat kann ick och!"
Macht einen ungeschickten Satz,
Fällt auf den harten Gartenplatz,
Ist platt, wie man die Kuchen backt,
Und hat für ewig ausgequackt.

Wenn einer, der mit Mühe kaum
Geklettert ist auf einen Baum,
Schon meint, daß er ein Vogel wär,
So irrt sich der.

Text Authorship:

by Wilhelm Busch (1832 - 1908), "Fink und Frosch" [author's text not yet checked 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), "Fink und Frosch", 2010 [tenor and piano], from Vogel-lieder, no. 1 [ sung text checked 1 time]

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

ENG English (Gary Bachlund) , "Finch and Frog", rhymed paraphrase, copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-02-03
Line count: 22
Word count: 121

Finch and Frog

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

A finch piped up in an apple tree
that finch's cheeky cheep-a-cheep-cheep!
A tree frog climbed up to him laboriously,
Up to a green-leafed roof quite steep,
And swelled himself to croak: "It's me,
Neighborly ready to croak-a-peep-peep!"

And as the bird was fresh, freshly sweet,
So sweet to the spring did it tweet-a-tweet-tweet,
The frog joined in with a raucous bleat,
A moaning drone, quite indiscrete.

The finch burst forth: "Hurrah! Hurray!
I'll think that I shall fly away!"
And leapt into the sky that day.

"What!" cried the frog, "Well so shall I!"
And believing such foolish lie,
Fell splat to the ground where it did die.
Flat as a pancake flat, doornail dead,
It had given its final croak instead.

If someone -- not a bird -- climbs high
And thinks that he might someday fly
Without the wings of the birdy bird,
Why then, such thinking is simply absurd.

Text Authorship:

by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Finch and Frog", rhymed paraphrase, copyright © 2010, (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 Wilhelm Busch (1832 - 1908), "Fink und Frosch"
- Go to the text page.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-02-03
Line count: 22
Word count: 151