Kurt the Knight rides to his betrothal

With a bridegroom's sense of pleasure,

Kurt the knight jumps on his steed;

to the betrothal it shall bear him,

to the castle of his noble love;

Just then in a barren rocky place

An adversary threatens and advances;

Without hesitation, without words,

They move towards rapid action.

The battle long remains uncertain,

until Kurt in victory rejoices;

He removes from this place,

A vanquishing and bruisèd knight.

But see what soon he spies

among the trembling verdant vines!

Still united with a suckling babe

A sweetheart creeps among the trees.

And she beckons him to come to her:

Dear Sir, don't leave just yet!

Don't you care about your little darling,

don't you have something for your child?

A sweet flame heats him through,

So that he can't defer desiring,

And for him the nursing woman,

Like the virgin, love's inspiring.

But he hears the servants' bugles blow,

And thinks now of his noble bride;

And in his sic streets the clamor rises

from the noisy fair and celebration.

And from among the peddlers' stalls

He chooses tokens of true love and deep devotion;

But alas! Some Jews now are a-coming

With paper proof of past due debts.

And now the courts detain

The nimble knight.

Oh! What bedeviled tale!

And such heroic life!

Why is patience due this very day?

The inconvenience is major.

Opponents, women, debts,

Oh! No knight can throw them off.