My child,
once we were children
(original
German version)
(Translated into English by Joseph Massaad)
My child, once we were
children,
Two children, little and gay;
We crept into the henhouse,
And hid under the straw to play.
We crowed, as coqs
would crow,
And when people passed by,
Kickery-koo! They really thought
They were hearing a coq's own cry.
The chests laying
in the courtyard,
We lined in our childish way,
And lived inside together,
A cosy home in which to stay.
The old cat of our
neighbour,
Came often to visit us there,
We made her curtsies and bows,
And of compliments, a good share.
We inquired after
her health,
Gravely, each time she came,
And to many an old cat,
Since then, we did the same.
We often sat, and
seriously,
Discussed in the way of old men,
And complained that all was better,
In the olden days than then,
And how love,
truth and faith
Were not to be found anywhere,
And how dear was the coffee,
And the money was so rare!
Those childish
plays are now over,
Everything disappears with youth,
Money, the world and the seasons,
And faith and love and truth.