Grimms' Fairy Tales — Page 6
In the morning came the fox again and met him as he was beginning his journey, and said, 'Go straight forward, till you come to a castle, before which lie a whole troop of soldiers fast asleep and snoring: take no notice of them, but go into the castle and pass on and on till you come to a room, where the golden bird sits in a wooden cage; close by it stands a beautiful golden cage; but do not try to take the bird out of the shabby cage and put it into the handsome one, otherwise you will repent it.'
Am Morgen kam der Fuchs wieder und begegnete ihm, als er seine Reise beginnen wollte, und sagte: 'Geh geradeaus, bis du zu einem Schloss kommst, vor dem eine ganze Truppe Soldaten liegt, die fest schlafen und schnarchen: achte nicht auf sie, sondern geh in das Schloss hinein und immer weiter, bis du in ein Zimmer kommst, wo der goldene Vogel in einem hölzernen Käfig sitzt; dicht dabei steht ein schöner goldener Käfig; aber versuche nicht, den Vogel aus dem schäbigen Käfig herauszunehmen und in den schönen zu setzen, sonst wirst du es bereuen.'
Then the fox stretched out his tail again, and the young man sat himself down, and away they went over stock and stone till their hair whistled in the wind.
Dann streckte der Fuchs wieder seinen Schwanz aus, und der junge Mann setzte sich darauf, und fort gingen sie über Stock und Stein, bis ihnen die Haare im Wind pfiffen.
Before the castle gate all was as the fox had said: so the son went in and found the chamber where the golden bird hung in a wooden cage, and below stood the golden cage, and the three golden apples that had been lost were lying close by it.
Vor dem Schlosstor war alles so, wie der Fuchs gesagt hatte: also ging der Sohn hinein und fand die Kammer, wo der goldene Vogel in einem hölzernen Käfig hing, und darunter stand der goldene Käfig, und die drei goldenen Äpfel, die verloren gegangen waren, lagen dicht dabei.
Then thought he to himself, 'It will be a very droll thing to bring away such a fine bird in this shabby cage'; so he opened the door and took hold of it and put it into the golden cage.
Da dachte er bei sich: 'Es wäre doch eine sehr seltsame Sache, einen so schönen Vogel in diesem schäbigen Käfig fortzubringen'; also öffnete er die Tür, ergriff den Vogel und setzte ihn in den goldenen Käfig.
But the bird set up such a loud scream that all the soldiers awoke, and they took him prisoner and carried him before the king.
Aber der Vogel stieß einen so lauten Schrei aus, dass alle Soldaten erwachten, und sie nahmen ihn gefangen und führten ihn vor den König.
Vocabulary
- Morgen
- Morning; also means 'tomorrow'
- kam
- Past tense of 'kommen', meaning 'came'
- Fuchs
- A fox; a cunning wild animal
- wieder
- Again; once more
- begegnete
- Met; encountered someone or something
- ihm
- Dative pronoun meaning 'him' or 'it'
- als
- When; as; used for past single events
- seine
- His; possessive pronoun (masculine owner)
- Reise
- A journey or trip taken by someone
- beginnen
- To begin; to start something
- wollte
- Wanted to; past tense of 'wollen'
- sagte
- Said; past tense of 'sagen'
- Geh
- Go! Imperative form of 'gehen'
- geradeaus
- Straight ahead; in a direct direction
- bis
- Until; up to a point in time or space
- Schloss
- A castle or palace; also means 'lock'
- kommst
- You come; second-person singular of 'kommen'
- vor
- Before; in front of; a preposition
- ganze
- Whole; entire; complete in extent
- Truppe
- A troop or group of soldiers
- Soldaten
- Soldiers; members of a military force
- liegt
- Lies; is situated; third-person of 'liegen'
- fest
- Firmly; soundly; deeply (as in sleep)
- schlafen
- To sleep; to be in a state of rest
- schnarchen
- To snore; to make noise while sleeping
- achte
- Pay attention; heed; imperative of 'achten'
- sondern
- But rather; used after a negation
- geh
- Go; informal imperative of 'gehen'
- hinein
- Into it; inward direction into something
- immer
- Always; ever; continually going forward
- weiter
- Further; onward; continuing in direction
- Zimmer
- A room inside a building or house
- wo
- Where; a relative or interrogative adverb
- goldene
- Golden; made of or resembling gold
- Vogel
- A bird; a feathered flying animal
- hölzernen
- Wooden; made of wood (inflected adjective)
- Käfig
- A cage; enclosure for keeping animals
- sitzt
- Sits; is seated; third-person of 'sitzen'
- dicht
- Close; near; dense; right beside something
- dabei
- Next to it; nearby; close to that thing
- steht
- Stands; is standing; third-person of 'stehen'
- schöner
- More beautiful; comparative of 'schön'
- goldener
- Golden; adjective inflected for masculine nominative
- aber
- But; however; a coordinating conjunction
- versuche
- Try; attempt; imperative of 'versuchen'
- aus
- Out of; from; a common preposition
- schäbigen
- Shabby; worn; old and tattered (inflected)
- herauszunehmen
- To take out; to remove from something
- schönen
- Beautiful; pretty (inflected adjective form)
- setzen
- To set; to place; to put something somewhere
- sonst
- Otherwise; or else; in other circumstances
- wirst
- Will; second-person future auxiliary verb
- bereuen
- To regret; to feel sorry for an action
- Dann
- Then; after that; indicating sequence
- streckte
- Stretched out; extended; past tense of 'strecken'
- seinen
- His; accusative possessive pronoun (masculine)
- Schwanz
- Tail; the rear appendage of an animal
- junge
- Young; youthful (inflected adjective form)
- Mann
- Man; an adult male person
- setzte
- Sat down; placed; past tense of 'setzen'
- sich
- Himself/herself/itself; reflexive pronoun
- darauf
- On it; thereupon; on top of that thing
- fort
- Away; off; indicating departure or continuation
- gingen
- Went; past plural of 'gehen'
- über
- Over; across; above; a preposition
- Stock
- Stick; a staff or trunk; also a floor/story
- Stein
- Stone; a rock or hard mineral material
- ihnen
- Them; dative third-person plural pronoun
- Haare
- Hair; strands of hair on the head
- Wind
- Wind; moving air in the atmosphere
- pfiffen
- Whistled; past tense plural of 'pfeifen'
- Vor
- Before; in front of; a preposition
- Schlosstor
- Castle gate; the main entrance of a castle
- war
- Was; past tense of 'sein' (to be)
- alles
- Everything; all things combined
- wie
- How; as; like; comparison conjunction
- gesagt
- Said; past participle of 'sagen'
- hatte
- Had; past tense of 'haben'
- also
- So; therefore; thus in German context
- ging
- Went; past tense of 'gehen'
- Sohn
- Son; a male offspring of a parent
- fand
- Found; past tense of 'finden'
- Kammer
- A chamber or small room in a building
- hing
- Hung; past tense of 'hängen'
- darunter
- Under it; beneath that thing
- stand
- Stood; past tense of 'stehen'
- drei
- Three; the number 3
- goldenen
- Golden; made of gold (dative/genitive inflected)
- Äpfel
- Apples; plural of 'Apfel'
- verloren
- Lost; past participle of 'verlieren'
- gegangen
- Gone; past participle of 'gehen'
- waren
- Were; past plural of 'sein'
- lagen
- Lay; were lying; past plural of 'liegen'
- Da
- There; then; at that point in time
- dachte
- Thought; past tense of 'denken'
- bei
- By; near; with; a common preposition
- wäre
- Would be; subjunctive form of 'sein'
- doch
- Yet; indeed; still; an emphatic particle
- sehr
- Very; extremely; to a high degree
- seltsame
- Strange; odd; peculiar (inflected adjective)
- Sache
- Thing; matter; affair; a general object
- diesem
- This; dative demonstrative pronoun
- fortzubringen
- To take away; to carry off from a place
- öffnete
- Opened; past tense of 'öffnen'
- Tür
- Door; an entrance or exit panel
- ergriff
- Seized; grabbed; past tense of 'ergreifen'
- ihn
- Him; it; accusative third-person pronoun
- Aber
- But; however; introduces a contradiction
- stieß
- Let out; emitted; past tense of 'stoßen'
- lauten
- Loud; shrill (inflected adjective form)
- Schrei
- A cry; a scream; a loud exclamation
- dass
- That; a subordinating conjunction
- alle
- All; everyone; every single person
- erwachten
- Woke up; past plural of 'erwachen'
- nahmen
- Took; past plural of 'nehmen'
- gefangen
- Captured; prisoner; past participle of 'fangen'
- führten
- Led; escorted; past plural of 'führen'
- König
- King; a male monarch ruling a kingdom
Unlock audio playback, vocabulary games, and reading progress tracking.
Create free account →