The tale of Cockaigne - Brothers Grimm
The tale of Cockaigne
A fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm
In the time of Cockaigne 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!
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Fairy taleBrothers Grimm
Translations:
- Das Märchen vom Schlaraffenland (German)
- El cuento de los despropósitos (Spanish)
- О блаженной стране небывалой (Russian)
- Bajka o krainie pieczonych gołąbków (Polish)
- Chuyện cổ tích về xứ Schlauraffen (Vietnamese)
- Het sprookje van Luilekkerland (Dutch)
- のらくら国のお話 (Japanese)
- 极乐世界里的故事 (Chinese)
- Eventyret om Slaraffenland (Danish)
- No país do Arco-da-Velha (Portuguese)
- Beleş Ülkenin Masalı (Turkish)
- La favola del paese di Cuccagna (Italian)
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