You’ve probably seen this picture somewhere before… Here is the Struwwelpeter1‘Stuwwel’ comes from strubblig = dishevelled, the first (and shortest) rhyming story of the book, with the translation just for you! The other stories will be here soon.
Sieh einmal2Look, Take a look, hier steht er3here he is –
Pfui!4Ugh! (disgust) Der Struwwelpeter!
An den Händen5on the hands beiden6both
Ließ7past of ‘lassen’ – to let er sich nicht schneiden8cut
Seine Nägel9nails fast10almost ein Jahr.
Kämmen11comb ließ er nicht sein Haar.
“Pfui!” ruft12call, exclaim da jeder13everyone:
“Garstger14nasty (commonly we use ‘garstig’) Struwwelpeter!”
Full literal translation (literal translations are meant for understanding, but they always sound awful):
Look, there he stands – Ugh! Slovenly Peter! On both hands he hasn’t let his nails be cut for nearly a year. He didn’t let his hair be combed. “Ugh!” exclaims everyone: “Nasty Slovenly Peter!”
Routledge’s literary translation:
Just look at him! There he stands,
With his nasty hair and hands.
See! his nails are never cut;
They are grim’d as black as soot;
And the sloven, I declare,
Never once has comb’d his hair;
Any thing to me is sweeter
Than to see shock-headed Peter.
You can find the bilingual book on Amazon. There is also a version by Mark Twain.
These are Amazon affiliate links. There is no discount or extra charge, but I earn from qualifying purchases.
