# En hud pesjan je živel

"En hud pesjan je živel" is a darkly comic Slovenian song, credited to Janez Bitenc, about a man-eating ogre who tries to cook the Devil himself, falls into his own cauldron, and gets gobbled up — with a tongue-in-cheek moral.

## At a glance

| | |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | Slovenia |
| Sung in | Slovenian |
| Words by | Janez Bitenc |
| First known | credited to Janez Bitenc |
| Best for ages | 2–7 |
| Mood | playful, traditional |
| Page | https://littlesongbook.com/songs/en-hud-pesjan-je-zivel/ |

## Lyrics

### Verse 1 (sl)

En hud pesjan je živel,
se futral je z ljudmi,
z njih žup'co si je kuhal,
obral jih do kosti.

### Verse 2 (sl)

Enkrat pa en'ga najde,
ga hoče v lonec dat',
preveč je čudno dišal,
preveč je bil kosmat.

### Verse 3 (sl)

Kdo bil je ta kosmatež,
lahko ugane vsak.
Dihur je bil, kajneda!
Narobe, bil je vrag!

### Verse 4 (sl)

Pesjan čez kotel padu,
pa s kropom se polil,
ga vrag je brž obglodal,
pa župco vso popil.

### Verse 5 (sl)

Uči nas tale štor'ja,
da kjer sta vraga dva,
da tisti zmerom zmaga,
k' 'ma več pesjanskega.

### English translation (en)

A fierce ogre once lived,
he fed himself on people,
cooked soup out of them,
picked them clean to the bone.

But once he catches one
he means to put in the pot —
it smelled far too strange,
it was far too hairy.

Who was this hairy thing?
Anyone can guess.
A polecat, surely? —
No! It was the Devil!

The ogre fell over the cauldron,
scalded himself with boiling water;
the Devil quickly gnawed him up,
and drank up all the soup.

This little story teaches us
that where there are two fiends,
the one always wins
who has more of the beast in him.

## Common questions

**What is "En hud pesjan je živel" about?**

A comic tale of poetic justice. A fierce ogre lives by eating people — cooking soup from them and picking them to the bone. One day he catches a strange, hairy creature to cook, but it turns out to be the Devil; the ogre tumbles into his own cauldron of boiling water, and the Devil gobbles him up and drinks all the soup. The mock-moral: where two fiends meet, the beastlier one always wins.

**Is "En hud pesjan je živel" too scary for children?**

It is grisly on paper, but plays as broad, cartoonish comedy — an ogre out-monstered by the Devil and served his just deserts. Like many old comic tales, the horror is exaggerated for laughs, and the villain, not any innocent, comes to a sticky end.

**Who wrote "En hud pesjan je živel"?**

It is credited to Janez Bitenc, the prolific Slovenian composer of children's songs. We have kept that attribution as given in our source.

## Sources

- [Slovenske narodne pesmi — En hud pesjan je živel](https://narodne-pesmi.si/pesmi/otroske-pesmi-izvedbe/in-in-dreznica-3/)