The Ballad of the Sailor, His Wife and Labskaus

Every year – and to date –

sea-loving persons serve

in the traditional way

a strange dish !

Even the fine ladies ask

when they gnaw on the rollmops like this,

why this meaty vegetable

is called “Labskaus” of all things ! –

Thereupon, once upon a time there was

a Kaepten named “Labs”,

who – as it happened at that time –

took his wife with him

on most of his trips –

because he loved to serve properly ! –

Already on Sunday he said: “Little one,

cook me something nice today!”

And it said on the spot Mrs. Labs:

From the pickle barrel she quickly

she took meat from beef and pork,

and from the pickles smooth

cucumber, herring, laurel spice,

onion and the same beet,

so that everything would remain reddish,

Finally, from the big bag

a mass of ship’s biscuit,

watered, bubbled and rotated the mass

through the wolf’s hole

and hands the whole pop

boiled up afterwards to her Labs. –

Once to special kindness

Mrs. Labs found another bag of

instead of the matie fish,

which she mixed into the mixture,

and embellished it with a fried egg

and a rollmops ditto to it

and a clear sip next to it

makes the thing smooth and flat

but to make it digest properly,

she says, “I’d rather have Labs chewing on it!” –

Alas, Mrs. Labs has passed lengthwise,

but the captains have clung

to the dish since that time,

and they think all around:

Good Labskaus – good heart !

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