"Peter Klaus" is a German
folk tale. The story was written as "Der Ziegenhirt" ('The Goatherd') by
Johann Karl Christoph Nachtigal, who published it in 1800 under the alias Otmar.[1]
Plot summary
The story follows a German
goatherd from a village named Sittendorf, today part of the town
Kelbra. While looking for escaped goats, Peter Klaus is led to where others are playing games in the woods. After tasting their wine, he falls asleep and wakes up twenty years later.
Translations
"Der Ziegenhirt" has been translated into English a number of times:
"Peter Klaus, the Goatherd" translated by
Thomas Roscoe for The German Novelists (1826)
"Peter the Goatherd" translated by
Edgar Taylor for German Popular Stories volume 2 (1826) – one of only four stories in this book not by the
Brothers Grimm
"The Goatherd" translated by
George Godfrey Cunningham for Foreign Tales and Traditions (1829) – translated via
Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching's 1812 collection Volks-Sagen, Märchen und Legenden ('Folktales, Fairy Tales and Legends')
"The Goatherd" translated by
William John Thoms for The Original (1832) – also translated via Büsching's Volks-Sagen, Märchen und Legenden (1812)
"Karl Katz" revised by Taylor from his earlier translation, for Gammer Grethel (1839) – the main character's name is changed from "Peter Klaus" to "Karl Katz"
"The Goatherd" translated by
Benjamin Thorpe for Yule-Tide Stories (1853)
"Karl Katz" revised by
Marian Edwardes from Taylor's "Karl Katz", for Grimm's Household Tales (1912)