Let’s read together: The Story of Cruel Frederick by Heinrich Hoffmann

In the translation of Mark Twain

This Frederick! this Frederick!
A naughty, wicked boy was he;
He caught the flies, poor little things,
And then tore off their tiny wings;
He kill’d the birds, and broke the chairs,
And throw the kitten down the stairs;
And oh! far worse and worse,
He whipp’d his good and gentle nurse!

The trough was full, and faithful Tray
Came out to drink one sultry day;
He wagg’d his tail, and wet his lip,
When cruel Fred snatch’d up a whip,
And whipp’d poor Tray till he was sore,
And kick’d and whipp’d him more and more;

At this, good Tray grow very red,
And growl’d and bit him till he bled;
Then you should only have been by,
To see how Fred did scream and cry!

So Frederick had to go to bed;
His leg was very sore and red!
The Doctor came and shook his head,
And made a very great to-do,
And gave him bitter physic too.
But good dog Tray is happy now;
He has no time to say “bow-wow!”
He seats himself in Frederick’s chair,
And laughs to see the nice things there:
The soup he swallows, sup by sup,-
And eats the pies and puddings up.

Other translation

Here is cruel Frederick, see!
A horrid wicked boy was he;
He caught the flies, poor little things,
And then tore off their tiny wings,
He killed the birds, and broke the chairs,
And threw the kitten down the stairs;
And oh! far worse than all beside,
He whipped his Mary, till she cried.

The trough was full, and faithful Tray
Came out to drink one sultry day;
He wagged his tail, and wet his lip,
When cruel Fred snatched up a whip,
And whipped poor Tray till he was sore,
And kicked and whipped him more and more:
At this, good Tray grew very red,
And growled, and bit him till he bled;
Then you should only have been by,
To see how Fred did scream and cry!

So Frederick had to go to bed:
His leg was very sore and red!
The Doctor came, and shook his head,
And made a very great to-do,
And gave him nasty physic too.

To read The Story of Cruel Frederick in other languages

• German language version: Die Geschichte vom bösen Friederich
• Italian language version: La storia del cattivo Federigo
• English language version: The Story of Cruel Frederick

To read the other nursery rhymes from the book Struwwelpeter by Heinrich Hoffmann

• Foreword: to the children
• Struwwelpeter – Shock headed Peter
• The Story of Cruel Frederick
• The Dreadful Story of Pauline and the Matches
• The Story of the Inky Boys
• The Story of the Wild Huntsman
• The Story of Little Suck-a-Thumb
• The Story of Augustus who not have any Soup
• The Story of Fidgety Philip
• The Story of Johnny Look-in-the-Air
• The Story of Flying Robert
• Anniversary page for the hundredth edition

Go to Struwwelpeter Special!