All this fuss...over a fish!

Madison and I worked for over an hour on helping her get the German song "Die Forelle" in somewhat working order for the Bach Children's Chorus. Somewhere in the middle, I thought we could go look up the translation of the words on the web.

It's Schubert, right? So I thought that it would be about something grand about Art or Love or Peace or something.

Nope. It's about a trout.

Yep. This:

In einem Bächlein helle, da schoss in froher Eil
Die launische Forelle vorüber wie ein Pfeil.
Ich stand an dem Gestade und sah in süsser Ruh
Des muntern Fischleins Bade im klaren Bächlein zu

Means this:

In a clear brooklet in happy haste
The impulsive trout dashed past like an arrow.
I stood on the bank and watch in sweet repose
The bath of the lively small fish in the clear brooklet.

There are five more additional paragraphs about a fisherman stirring up the brook to make it muddy. This seems to help him catch the fish:

He made the stream muddy maliciously
And I thought, his rod quivered
The fish, the fish was wriggling on it,
And I, with my blood boiling, looked at the duped

All this fuss over a freaking fish. Sheesh! I was amazed. Madison was amused. It definitely seems less intimidating now.