Max and Moritz
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Max and Moritz (A Story of Seven Boyish Pranks) was a German language comic strip and may have been the first such strip ever. This highly inventive, blackly humorous tale, told entirely in rhymed couplets, was written and illustrated by Wilhelm Busch and began newspaper publication in 1865. Many familiar with comic strip history consider it to have been the direct (though never credited) inspiration for the Katzenjammer Kids.
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Cultural Significance
Busch's classic tale of the terrible two (now in the public domain) has since become a proud part of the culture in German-speaking countries, in spite of (or maybe owing to) its relative obscurity in English-speaking cultures. To this day in Germany (and especially Austria), a certain familiarity with the story is still presumed, as it is often referenced in mass communication. The two leering, cretinous faces are synonymous with mischief, and appear almost logo-like in advertising and even graffiti.
It's interesting to compare Max & Moritz with Alice in Wonderland. Both appeared in 1865, and soon became (for their respective audiences) popular tales of children interacting with an adult world. However, it's notable that they took completely opposite approaches: Alice (a girl) is the only sane person in Wonderland, and ultimately uses her common sense to prevail against that increasingly nightmarish world, whereas M&M (boys) seem determined to wreak mayhem on a trusting, law-abiding society through a series of increasingly outrageous pranks which ultimately lead to their downfall.
The Pranks
It's not necessary to reprint the entire story here, as it is both long and freely available on the internet. [1] (http://www.fln.vcu.edu/mm/mmmenu.html) A summary of the pranks (and sample from the preface) should provide the essential flavor.
There have been several English translations of the original German verses over the years, but all have maintained the original iambic tetrameter:
Preface
Ah, how oft we read or hear of
Boys we almost stand in fear of!
For example, take these stories
Of two youths, named Max and Moritz,
Who, instead of early turning
Their young minds to useful learning,
Often leered with horrid features
At their lessons and their teachers.
Look now at the empty head: he
Is for mischief always ready.
Teasing creatures - climbing fences,
Stealing apples, pears, and quinces,
Is, of course, a deal more pleasant,
And far easier for the present,
Than to sit in schools or churches,
Fixed like roosters on their perches
But O dear, O dear, O deary,
When the end comes sad and dreary!
'Tis a dreadful thing to tell
That on Max and Moritz fell!
All they did this book rehearses,
Both in pictures and in verses.
First Trick: The Widow
The boys tie several crusts of bread together with thread, and lay this trap in an old widow's chicken yard, causing all the chickens to become fatally entangled.
Second Trick: The Widow II
As the widow cooks her chickens, the boys sneak onto her roof. When she leaves her kitchen momentarily, the boys steal the chickens using a fishing pole down the chimney. The widow hears her dog barking and hurries upstairs, finds the hearth empty and beats the dog.
Third Trick: The Tailor
The boys torture a well-liked tailor who has a fast stream in front of his home. They saw through the planks of his wooden bridge, then taunt him until he runs outside. The bridge breaks; the tailor is swept away and nearly drowns (but for two geese, which act as life preservers).
Fourth Trick: The Teacher
While their devout teacher is busy at church, the boys invade his home and fill his favorite pipe full of gunpowder. When he lights the pipe, the blast knocks him unconscious, blackens his skin and burns away all his hair.
Fifth Trick: The Uncle
The boys collect bags full of May beetles, which they promptly deposit in their Uncle’s bed. Uncle is nearly asleep when he feels the bugs walking on his nose. Horrified, he goes into a bug-killing frenzy with a shoe.
Sixth Trick: The Baker
The boys invade a bakery which they believe is closed. Attempting to steal pretzels, they fall into a vat of dough. The baker returns, catches the breaded pair, and bakes them. But they survive, and escape by gnawing through their crusts.
Final Trick: The Farmer
Hiding out in a farmer's grain storage area, the boys slit some grain sacks. A farmer arrives and immediately notices the problem. He puts the boys in the sack instead, then takes it to the mill. The boys are ground to bits and devoured by ducks. Later, no one expresses regret! (The mill really exists in Ebergötzen, Germany, and can be visited)