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
ass1 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
hawk2 swam over the Rhine, which he had a perfect right to do.
There I heard some fishes begin to make such a
disturbance3 with each other, that it
resounded4 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
mowing5 a meadow, and I saw two
gnats6(蠓虫,琐事) building a bridge, and two doves tore a wolf to pieces; two children brought
forth7 two kids, and two frogs threshed corn together.
There I saw two mice
consecrating8 a
bishop9, and two cats scratching out a bear's tongue. Then a
snail10 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
standing11 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!