FIPPS THE MONKEY by Wilhelm Busch Part I
Concerning Fipps, one might well admit, He cannot be considered a beauty. That which gives him value Is his restless and active style.
Wherever something was awry, he was always there, Whatever he liked, he had to steal; Whenever someone did something, he copied it, And praise is not his favorite topic.
One time he sat on in palm standing there on the edge of the bank. A large ship was on the sea and from the ship a raft was approaching.
There was a man sitting in a small boat, He had neither shoes nor boots on; In front of him, quite noticeably A large and a small pair of boots.
The small one that he took with him is smeared with sticky soot and as the man goes on shore, he takes the two pairs of boots with him. He carries them carefully under his arm and mumbles, �God have mercy on me!� But scarcely had the unhappy man put on one of the boots then the pains apparently become less severe.
But then with boot number two he seems to be completely free of pain. Then he tries, in a rapid pace, To find the little boat again. And quite by chance he leaves the pair of small boots on land.
Quickly Fipps comes down from the tree and happily puts on the boots, as expected, on his hind feet. But look! The happy man comes again.
Alas, the boots on Fipps’ feet hinders his escape. The man catches him.
In vain he struggles impetuously; then the man gets into his boat with him.
The boat shifts back and forth, and travels over the ocean. And the same man (he writes his name Schmidt) takes Fipps directly to Bremen.
In Bremen there lived a quiet and skillful man, A barber known as Master Kr端ll.
And Schmitt got a haircut, too, Full of joy he sees the monkey. He thinks, that would be a great joy For me and for my customers.
It just now so happened, That Kr端ll, since he had nothing else to do, Hurriedly, as he always does, He went into the closet.
At the same time a small man with a small head and thick hips Appears in the shop and sits on the chair. He is nearly bald with large thighs, Sits on the chair; he smells like caraway.
Wow! Wipps is sitting on the back of his neck, In order to cut his hair. The scissors hurt; the hair flies; This is no pleasure for him..
Aha! That was a clever cut In that the outer ear suffered.
“Stop, Stop!” shouts Dümmel, clearly pained, But Fipps already has the curling iron.
The iron glows, his ear hurts, A cloud of steam arises from his head.
The master comes, He swings high his right hand, As tough for a battle, a struggle.
The mirror rattles, his hand is disabled; Master Kr端ll is framed in the mirror.
“It seems to me, I am not loved here.” Thinks Fipps, who then crawls further away.
For Fipps it is high time to eatt, And with joyful agility he flees Through a side street And creeps into a pastry shop.
“Listen;” calls out the pastry cook Köck, “What is rattling in my work?”
The worry changes to horror, For Fipps is standing there with doughnuts pretzels.
Nothing remains for him except yelling loudly Just then comes Minke, the old shop owner.
Quickly Fipps jumps between her feet. A drrk-haired shoemaker’s apprentice throws A high boot, freshly oiled So that he loses the beautiful doughnuts.
A beggar was waiting on the bridge With a hump-back and two crutches.
The same person had a great desire To catch the doughnuts on one crutch.
This does not seem to help him at all, Then Fipps takes his last crutch. There he lies, like a beetle, on his back--
Fipps then goes over the bridge, And hurries, fearful and tired, From the city with the last doughnut.
It’s already dark but not scary and he climbs over a garden wall.
Here he hopes for a pleasant night’s rest. Snap! The iron trap springs shut.
Suddenly from an apartment building Comes a man and expresses his pleasure. “Aha!” he calls , “You are the one Who steals chickens. Well then, come here!”
And thereby he immediately puts him In a sack, (it is not a pleasure). Without any other looking around
He begins the painful punishment.
Then he locks him, for any occasion, In one of the empty chicken shacks, So that he can look more closely At this rascal again.
As the man from last evening, Having slept soundly and well, (His name if namely Doctor Fink) Went to the stall again, ,
Fipps creeps out of his sack, Comes closer and bows down.
Smilingly Frau Doctor offers him a good apple, And the heavy, round, fat. nice nanny Jutta, With the pretty, little Elise; oh my, how these two laugh.
Two here do not find it appropriate: Fipps, the hound, and Gripps, the cat: Who, not without mustrust Look at this new guest.