Jealousy and pride
(Poet's title: Eifersucht und Stolz)
Set by Schubert:
D 795/15
[October-November 1823]
Part of Die schöne Müllerin, D 795
Wohin so schnell, so kraus und wild, mein lieber Bach?
Eilst du voll Zorn dem frechen Bruder Jäger nach?
Kehr um, kehr um, und schilt erst deine Müllerin
Für ihren leichten, losen, kleinen Flattersinn.
Sahst du sie gestern Abend nicht am Tore stehn,
Mit langem Halse nach der großen Straße sehn?
Wenn von dem Fang der Jäger lustig zieht nach Haus,
Da steckt kein sittsam Kind den Kopf zum Fenster ‘naus,
Geh Bächlein hin und sag ihr das, doch sag ihr nicht,
Hörst du, kein Wort, von meinem traurigen Gesicht,
Sag ihr: Er schnitzt bei mir sich eine Pfeif aus Rohr
Und bläst den Kindern schöne Tänz und Lieder vor.
My dear little river, where are you going so quickly, so ruffled, so savage?
Are you hurrying off, full of anger, to look for that cheeky brother the huntsman?
Turn round, turn round, and first of all rebuke your miller girl
For being so silly, so shallow, so inconstant.
Did you not see her standing by the gate last night
Stretching her neck to look down the main road?
When huntsmen return home merrily after a day’s shooting
No obedient child should stretch her head out of the window.
Go off, dear little river, and talk to her, but do not tell her
Anything about my sad face, not a word, do you hear?
Say to her, “He has been sitting next to me cutting a reed pipe,
And he is blowing on it, playing beautiful dances and songs for the children.”
All translations into English that appear on this website, unless otherwise stated, are by Malcolm Wren. You are free to use them on condition that you acknowledge Malcolm Wren as the translator and schubertsong.uk as the source. Unless otherwise stated, the comments and essays that appear after the texts and translations are by Malcolm Wren and are © Copyright.
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Themes and images in this text:
Anger and other strong emotions Children and childhood Dancing Hunters and hunting Jealousy Mills Pipes and flutes Reeds Rivers (Bächlein) Songs (general) Windows
The young man can express his emotions but he is unable to communicate them directly. Just as ‘Der Jäger‘ appears to be a rehearsal for everything he intends to say to the huntsman when he sees him, ‘Eifersucht und Stolz‘ is not addressed directly to the object of his rage and frustration (on this occasion, the miller girl). He is speaking to the river. In other words he is looking in the mirror and speaking to himself. The anger and savagery that he sees in the water is his own.
His jealousy has led him to turn on the girl and blame her for the situation. The qualities of charm and prettiness that he had previously seen in her now come to be seen as frivolity and superficiality. He accuses her of standing by the gate looking down the road in anticipation of the hunter’s arrival and of sticking her neck out of the window in her eagerness to see him. She is unlikely to have done both of these things on the same occasion, but it is highly likely that the young miller has spent many an evening on the lookout for the girl. If she did glance around to see if the hunter was approaching, the young miller would have seen a pale reflection of his own obsessive behaviour, and he responds in the classic way. Pots and kettles. It is the old double standards: men are allowed to take the initiative but well-brought up, ‘nice’ (sittsam) girls are expected to sit demurely with their eyes lowered.
Having sent the river off with instructions to reproach the girl for her flightiness and skittish behaviour he then changes tack completely. His own flightiness leads him to change the tone. He no longer wants the river to convey any of his anger or possessiveness. He wants to pretend that he is perfectly calm and carefree: ‘tell her that I have spent the day playing a reed pipe to accompany the children’s singing and dancing’. Who knows, though? Perhaps he did. Perhaps his problem is that noone has ever noticed his ‘sad face’. Perhaps he can play jolly tunes and cheer people up. The tragedy is that his outer image never communicates his tormented, inner reality.
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Original Spelling Eifersucht und Stolz Wohin so schnell, so kraus und wild, mein lieber Bach? Eilst du voll Zorn dem frechen Bruder Jäger nach? Kehr' um, kehr' um, und schilt erst deine Müllerin Für ihren leichten, losen, kleinen Flattersinn. Sahst du sie gestern Abend nicht am Thore stehn, Mit langem Halse nach der großen Straße sehn? Wenn von dem Fang der Jäger lustig zieht nach Haus, Da steckt kein sittsam Kind den Kopf zum Fenster 'naus. Geh', Bächlein, hin und sag' ihr das, doch sag' ihr nicht, Hörst du, kein Wort, von meinem traurigen Gesicht; Sag' ihr: Er schnitzt bei mir sich eine Pfeif' aus Rohr, Und bläst den Kindern schöne Tänz' und Lieder vor.
Confirmed with Gedichte aus den hinterlassenen Papieren eines reisenden Waldhornisten. Herausgegeben von Wilhelm Müller. Erstes Bändchen. Zweite Auflage. Deßau 1826. Bei Christian Georg Ackermann, page 32; and with Sieben und siebzig Gedichte aus den hinterlassenen Papieren eines reisenden Waldhornisten. Herausgegeben von Wilhelm Müller. Dessau, 1821. Bei Christian Georg Ackermann, page 33.
First published in a slightly different version with the title Trotzige Eifersucht in Der Gesellschafter oder Blätter für Geist und Herz. Herausgegeben von F. W. Gubitz. Zweiter Jahrgang. Berlin, 1818. In der Maurerschen Buchhandlung. Montag den 1. Juni. 87stes Blatt, page 347.
To see an early edition of the text, go to page 33 Erstes Bild 43 here: https://download.digitale-sammlungen.de/BOOKS/download.pl?id=bsb10115224