When I met by chance in my travels
All my sweetheart's family,
Papa, mamma, little sister
Most cordially greeted me.
About my health they inquired;
Nor even did they fail
To say I was nowise altered,
Only a trifle pale.
I asked after aunts and cousins,
And many a dull old bore.
And after the dear little poodle,
That barked so softly of yore.
And how was my married sweetheart?
I asked them soon. They smiled,
And in friendliest tone made answer
She was soon to have a child.
And I lisped congratulations,
And begged, when they should see,
To give her the kindest greetings,
A thousand times for me.
Burst forth the baby-sister,
"That dear little dog of mine
Went mad when he grew bigger,
And we drowned him in the Rhine."
The child resembles my sweetheart,
The same old laugh has she;
Her eyes are the same ones over,
That wrought such grief for me.