English Original
There were once a little brother and a little sister who loved each other dearly. Their mother had died, and their stepmother was unkind, secretly seeking to harm them.
One day, while playing a counting-out game with other children in the meadow near their house, they chanted:
"Eneke Beneke, let me live,
And I to thee my bird will give.
The little bird, it straw shall seek,
The straw I'll give to the cow to eat.
The pretty cow shall give me milk,
The milk I'll to the baker take.
The baker he shall bake a cake,
The cake I'll give unto the cat.
The cat shall catch some mice for that,
The mice I'll hang up in the smoke,
And then you'll see the snow."
The child upon whom the word "snow" fell had to run and be chased. Watching their joy from the window, the stepmother grew angry. Skilled in witchcraft, she bewitched the siblings, turning the brother into a fish and the sister into a lamb.
The fish swam sadly in the pond, and the lamb wandered the meadow, miserable and unable to eat. Time passed until visitors came to the castle. Seeing an opportunity, the stepmother ordered the cook to kill the lamb for the feast.
The cook fetched the lamb, tied its feet, and began whetting his knife. He then noticed a little fish swimming backwards and forwards in the water by the sink, looking up at him. It was the brother, who had followed.
The lamb cried out:
"Ah, brother, in the pond so deep,
How sad is my poor heart!
Even now the cook he whets his knife
To take away my tender life."
The fish replied:
"Ah, little sister, up on high,
How sad is my poor heart
While in this pond I lie."
Hearing the lamb speak such sad words, the cook was terrified. Realizing this was no ordinary lamb but likely bewitched, he said, "Be easy, I will not kill thee." He prepared another sheep for the guests and took the lambkin to a kind peasant woman, telling her all he had seen and heard.
This woman had once been the little sister's foster-mother. Suspecting the truth, she took the lamb to a wise woman. The wise woman pronounced a blessing over them, and they regained their human forms. She then took them to a little hut in a great forest, where they lived alone, contented and happy.
中文翻译
从前，有一对相亲相爱的兄妹。他们的母亲去世了，继母对他们很不好，总是暗中想办法伤害他们。
一天，兄妹俩和别的孩子在家门前的草地上玩数数游戏，他们念着歌谣：
"埃内克·贝内克，让我活，
我会把我的小鸟给你。
小鸟会去寻稻草，
我把稻草给牛吃。
漂亮的牛儿给我奶，
我把牛奶带给面包师。
面包师会烤个蛋糕，
我把蛋糕给猫咪。
猫咪为此抓老鼠，
我把老鼠挂烟熏，
然后你就会看到雪。"
念到“雪”字的孩子必须跑开，让别人来追。继母从窗口看到他们玩得这么开心，非常生气。她懂得巫术，便对兄妹俩施了魔法，把哥哥变成了一条鱼，把妹妹变成了一只羔羊。
鱼儿在池塘里悲伤地游来游去，羊羔在草地上徘徊，痛苦不堪，一口草也吃不下。过了很久，城堡里来了客人。恶毒的继母觉得机会来了，命令厨师去把草地上的羊羔抓来宰了待客。
厨师抓来羊羔，捆住它的脚，开始在门槛上磨刀。这时，他注意到一条小鱼在厨房水槽前的水里来回游动，正抬头望着他。原来那是哥哥变的鱼，它一路跟着来到了这里。
羊羔向下哭诉道：
"啊，哥哥，在深深的池塘里，
我的心多么悲伤！
厨师此刻正磨刀，
要夺走我柔弱的生命。"
小鱼回答道：
"啊，妹妹，在高高的岸上，
我的心多么悲伤，
当我躺在这池塘。"
厨师听到羊羔说话，还对鱼儿说出如此悲伤的话，吓坏了。他心想这绝不是普通的羊羔，一定是被屋里那个恶毒的女人施了魔法。于是他说：“别怕，我不会杀你。”他另宰了一只羊招待客人，然后把这只小羊羔带到了一位善良的农妇那里，并把所见所闻都告诉了她。
这位农妇恰好曾是妹妹的乳母。她立刻猜到了羊羔的身份，便带着它去找一位智慧的女人。智慧的女人为小羊羔和小鱼念了祝福，他们便恢复了人形。之后，她把他们带到森林深处的一间小屋里，他们在那里独自生活，过得心满意足，非常幸福。