Language through Literature

Der süße Brei — The Sweet Porridge


Brüder Grimm, 1857 · 222 words in German · free, and no account.

Read «Der süße Brei» in the room → Every word is glossed where it stands, the English is a tap away and never in your eyeline until you ask, and no account is asked for.

How long «Der süße Brei» is, and how hard

Length in German 222 running words · 6 sentences · about 1 printed page
Time to read about 2 minutes at a learner's pace, with the glosses to hand
Different words 100 dictionary words, averaging 37.0 words a sentence
Words glossed 100 of 100 — every one that appears in the tale
Words that appear once 63 — 63%. A word met once is a word you will not learn from this text alone
Where it stands 1 of 8 by length in the German room

89 of this tale's own 100 words, most frequent first, carry 95% of it; 56 carry 80%.

The tale, entire — German with English, sentence by sentence

Es war einmal ein armes frommes Mädchen, das lebte mit seiner Mutter allein, und sie hatten nichts mehr zu essen.

There was once a poor, pious girl who lived alone with her mother, and they had nothing left to eat.

Da gieng das Kind hinaus in den Wald, und begegnete ihm da eine alte Frau, die wußte seinen Jammer schon und schenkte ihm ein Töpfchen, zu dem sollt es sagen „Töpfchen, koche,“ so kochte es guten süßen Hirsenbrei, und wenn es sagte „Töpfchen, steh,“ so hörte es wieder auf zu kochen.

So the child went out into the forest, and there an old woman met her who already knew her distress, and gave her a little pot; to it she was to say “Little pot, cook,” and then it would cook good sweet millet porridge, and when she said “Little pot, stop,” it would leave off cooking again.

Das Mädchen brachte den Topf seiner Mutter heim, und nun waren sie ihrer Armuth und ihres Hungers ledig und aßen süßen Brei so oft sie wollten.

The girl brought the pot home to her mother, and now they were rid of their poverty and their hunger, and ate sweet porridge as often as they liked.

Auf eine Zeit war das Mädchen ausgegangen, da sprach die Mutter „Töpfchen, koche,“ da kocht es, und sie ißt sich satt; nun will sie daß das Töpfchen wieder aufhören soll, aber sie weiß das Wort nicht.

One time the girl had gone out, and then the mother said “Little pot, cook,” and it cooks, and she eats her fill; now she wants the little pot to stop again, but she does not know the word.

Also kocht es fort, und der Brei steigt über den Rand hinaus und kocht immer zu, die Küche und das ganze Haus voll, und das zweite Haus und dann die Straße, als wollts die ganze Welt satt machen, und ist die größte Noth, und kein Mensch weiß sich da zu helfen.

So it goes on cooking, and the porridge rises up over the rim and keeps on cooking, filling the kitchen and the whole house, and the second house and then the street, as if it wanted to feed the whole world; and there is the greatest distress, and not a soul knows what to do about it.

Endlich, wie nur noch ein einziges Haus übrig ist, da kommt das Kind heim, und spricht nur „Töpfchen, steh,“ da steht es und hört auf zu kochen; und wer wieder in die Stadt wollte, der mußte sich durchessen.

At last, when only a single house is left, the child comes home and says nothing but “Little pot, stop,” and it stops and leaves off cooking; and whoever wanted to get back into the town had to eat their way through.

Shorter and longer in the same room

Die Sterntaler — 298 wordsKannitverstan — 847 words

Every sentence, with its own page

Each of these is one sentence of «Der süße Brei» in German, its English, and a gloss for every word in it.

All eight German tales · the fifteen Russian ones