Just by chance on my journey
I met my beloved’s kin,
Sister and father and mother
Knew me, and welcomed me in.
They asked me how I was faring,
And said, as I entered the place,
That I wasn’t changed a bit, just
A little thin in the face.
I asked after aunts and cousins,
After many a tiresome one,
And asked how their little dog,
With its soft little bark had done.
And I asked about my darling,
Married now, by and by:
They kindly gave me an answer:
In childbed she did lie.
And I offered congratulations,
And murmured lovingly,
To give her a thousand greetings
With all their heart, from me.
Little sister interrupted:
Their dog so sweet and fine,
Had grown quite large and fierce,
And been drowned in the Rhine.
That little one’s like my darling,
Especially when she smiles:
The look that made me miserable:
She has the selfsame eyes.