“Max and Moritz” A Boys Tale in Seven Tricks

My husband had just finished mowing the yard and when he came back into the house a sweaty mess, I looked at him and smiled, “You look like Moritz,” I said and his face went blank. 

“Like who,” he asked and I told him about the boys who are so famous where I come from. Fictional characters in an old children book, a story told cruel, as only fairy tales can be, with an embedded moral -of course.

How it angers and saddens me, that so many worldwide treasures never find their way into American homes. While we expect the world to love and translate our books and movies, we seldom return the favor and miss out on so much by doing so.

Over the last  30 years, I have tortured people around me with international music, book, and films. Interesting enough, while they laughed at some, many more were loved and appreciated.

MAX AND MORITZ the mischievous boys from my childhood, how could my husband not know them? Of course, I had to change that and, of course, I have to share it on my blog as well.

There have been several English translations of the original German verses over the years. The oldest -and best translation- is from 1871 and while it might sound funny at times, it still is easy to understand and the original trochaic tetrameter had been kept.

“Max and Moritz” by Willhelm Busch

Ah, how oft we read or hear of
Boys we almost stand in fear of!
For example, take these stories
Of two youths, named Max and Moritz,
Who, instead of early turning
Their young minds to useful learning,
Often leered with horrid features
At their lessons and their teachers.

Look now at the empty head: he
Is for mischief always ready.
Teasing creatures – climbing fences,
Stealing apples, pears, and quinces,
Is, of course, a deal more pleasant,
And far easier for the present,
Than to sit in schools or churches,
Fixed like roosters on their perches

But O dear, O dear, O deary,
When the end comes sad and dreary!
‘Tis a dreadful thing to tell
That on Max and Moritz fell!
All they did this book rehearses,
Both in pictures and in verses.

To be continued tomorrow…