Hänschen klein

"Hänschen klein" is a traditional German folk song and children's song originating in the Biedermeier period of the 19th century. The title translates to English as "Little Hans".

Originally it told of a juvenile who ventures to the world and returns as a man to his family. It gained much more popularity around 1900, when the following abridged textual version came to be adopted as the very first song to be taught to small children, whether at home or in kindergarten. Now it is about a small boy, who is going away but returns immediately to hearth and home, since his mother, left alone, began crying.

The tune of this song is also used in the simple Mother Goose rhyme of "Lightly Row." It is the theme song of the 1977 war film Cross of Iron. In the German dubbed version of 2001: A Space Odyssey the HAL 9000 computer sings Hänschen klein (instead of Daisy Bell) while deactivated.

Translation

German	English	Bulgarian
Hänschen klein ging allein In die weite Welt hinein. Stock und Hut stehn ihm gut, Ist gar wohlgemut. Aber Mutter weinet sehr, hat ja nun kein Hänschen mehr. Da besinnt sich das Kind, läuft nach Haus geschwind.	Little Hans went alone Out into the wide world. Stick and hat suit him well. He is in good spirits. But his mother cries so much, For she no longer has little Hans. Look! the child changes his mind and runs quickly home.	Тръгнал кос, с дълъг нос През гората гол и бос. Тупнал с крак, Трак! Трак!Трак! Като същ юнак. Ходил, ходил - па се спрял, Три коли мухи изял. Тупнал с крак, тръгнал пак. Брей-бре, че юнак!

The song must be sung in German in order for the words to rhyme (a-a-b-b-c-c-d-d). Bulgarian version also goes well with the rhyme.

In Hebrew

In the first half of the twentieth century in pre-independent Israel (then the British Mandate of Palestine), the author Yisrael Duschmann, born in Vilna, wrote a Hebrew version of "Hänschen klein". The Song (in Hebrew: "Yonatan HaKatan") is the most widespread nursery rhyme in Israel.

However, the meaning of the original German text was completely altered. The Hebrew version reads:

Little Jonathan

Ran in the morning to kindergarten. (Or garden, double meaning)

He climbed the tree

Looking for chicks.

Oh dear, that naughty boy

Got a big hole in his pants.

He toppled down from the tree,

And got his punishment.

In contemporary Hebrew, there had not been a distinction between efroakh (baby chicken) and gozal (baby bird), which exists in present-day Hebrew, making the song awkward for present-day listeners.

External links

• Lyrics to "Hänschen klein" (in German).
• Melodie+Text *.mid
• We Butter The Bread With Butter (A German grindcore band whose debut album features a song titled "Hänschen Klein")