Snegl! snegl! kom herud!
Her er en Mand, som vil kjöbe dit Huus,
For en Skjæppe Penge!
Snail! snail! come out here!
Here is a man thy house will buy,
For a measure of white money.
A similar idea is preserved in Germany, the children saying (Des Knaben Wunderhorn, iii. 81)—
Klosterfrau im Schneckenhäussle,
Sie meint, sie sey verborgen.
Kommt der Pater Guardian,
Wünscht ihr guten Morgen!
Cloister-dame, in house of shell,
Ye think ye are hidden well.
Father Guardian will come,
And wish you good morning.
The following lines are given by M. Kuhn, Gebräuche und Aberglauben, 398, as current in Stendal:
Schneckhûs, peckhûs,
Stäk du dîn vêr hörner rût,
Süst schmît ick dî in'n gråven,
Då frêten dî de råven.
[APPLES.]
Children in the North of England, when they eat apples, or similar fruit, delight in throwing away the pippin, exclaiming—
Pippin, pippin, fly away,
Get me one another day!
[THE WALNUT-TREE.]
There is a common persuasion amongst country people that whipping a walnut-tree tends to increase the produce, and improve the flavour of the fruit. This belief is embodied in the following distich: