Im Hofe steht ein Pflaumenbaum,
Der ist so klein, man glaubt es kaum.
Er hat ein Gitter drum,
So tritt ihn keiner um.
Der Kleine kann nicht größer wer'n,
Ja - größer wer'n, das möcht' er gern! 's ist keine Red davon:
Er hat zu wenig Sonn'.
Dem Pflaumenbaum, man glaubt ihm kaum,
Weil er nie eine Pflaume hat.
Doch er ist ein Pflaumenbaum:
Man kennt es an dem Blatt.
The Plum
In the courtyard stands a plum tree,
It's so small, no one believes it.
It has a fence around it,
So no one can stomp on it.
The little tree can't grow,
Yes – it wants to grow!
No one talks about it;
It gets too little sun.
No one believes it's a plum
Because it doesn't have a single plum.
But it is a plum tree;
You can tell by its leaf.
The Plum TreeA plum tree in the courtyard standsso small no one believes it can.
There is a fence surroundsso no one stomps it down.
The little tree can't growalthough it wants to so!
There is no talk thereon and much too little sun.
No one believes in the treebecause no plums do they see.
But it's a plum tree; you can tell by its leaf.
The original German is in rhyme so I first did a literal non-rhyming translation and then I did a second version where I tried to add rhyme back in, though it does not match the original's meter.
