Bab Bab 147 · The Story of Schlauraffen Land

. The Story of Schlauraffen Land

In the time of Schlauraffen I went there, and saw Rome and the Lateran

hanging by a small silken thread, and a man without feet who outran a

swift horse, and a keen sharp sword that cut through a bridge. There I

saw a young ass with a silver nose which pursued two fleet hares, and a

lime-tree that was very large, on which hot cakes were growing. There I

saw a lean old goat which carried about a hundred cart-loads of fat on

his body, and sixty loads of salt. Have I not told enough lies? There I

saw a plough ploughing without horse or cow, and a child of one year

threw four millstones from Ratisbon to Treves, and from Treves to

Strasburg, and a hawk swam over the Rhine, which he had a perfect right

to do. There I heard some fishes begin to make such a disturbance with

each other, that it resounded as far as heaven, and sweet honey flowed

like water from a deep valley at the top of a high mountain, and these

were strange things. There were two crows which were mowing a meadow,

and I saw two gnats building a bridge, and two doves tore a wolf to

pieces; two children brought forth two kids, and two frogs threshed

corn together. There I saw two mice consecrating a bishop, and two cats

scratching out a bear’s tongue. Then a snail came running up and killed

two furious lions. There stood a barber and shaved a woman’s beard off;

and two sucking-children bade their mother hold her tongue. There I saw

two greyhounds which brought a mill out of the water; and a sorry old

horse was beside it, and said it was right. And four horses were

standing in the yard threshing corn with all their might, and two goats

were heating the stove, and a red cow shot the bread into the oven.

Then a cock crowed, Cock-a-doodle-doo! The story is all

told,—Cock-a-doodle-doo!