# Enkrat je bil en škrat

"Enkrat je bil en škrat" ("Once There Was a Gnome") is a beloved children's song by the Carinthian Slovene author Lenčka Kupper about a grey-bearded little gnome with a basket of gold, who helped good people and scorned the wicked.

## At a glance

| | |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | Slovenia |
| Sung in | Slovenian |
| Words by | Lenčka Kupper |
| First known | by Lenčka Kupper (first performed 1980) |
| Best for ages | 2–7 |
| Mood | playful, traditional |
| Page | https://littlesongbook.com/songs/enkrat-je-bil-en-skrat/ |

## Lyrics

### Verse 1 (sl)

Enkrat, enkrat, enkrat je bil en majhen škrat.
Enkrat, enkrat, enkrat je bil en škrat.
Imel je dolgo bradico, vsa siva je bila.
Na hrbtu je nosil krošnjico, je polna b'la zlata.

### Verse 2 (sl)

Enkrat, enkrat, enkrat je bil en majhen škrat.
Enkrat, enkrat, enkrat je bil en škrat.

### Verse 3 (sl)

Pomagal rad je vsem ljudem, ki dobri so bili.
Hudobneže preziral je, za nje ni imel oči.

### Verse 4 (sl)

Enkrat, enkrat, enkrat je bil en majhen škrat.
Enkrat, enkrat, enkrat je bil en škrat.

### Verse 5 (sl)

Ti praviš, da ga ni bilo, dokazov da še ni.
V pravljici tej živel bo, zato zapojmo vsi:

### Verse 6 (sl)

Enkrat, enkrat, enkrat je bil en majhen škrat.
Enkrat, enkrat, enkrat je bil en škrat.

### English translation (en)

Once, once, once there was a little gnome.
Once, once, once there was a gnome.
He had a long little beard, all grey it was.
On his back he carried a little basket, and it was full of gold.

Once, once, once there was a little gnome.
Once, once, once there was a gnome.

He gladly helped all people who were good.
The wicked he scorned; for them he had no eye.

Once, once, once there was a little gnome.
Once, once, once there was a gnome.

You say he never was, that there's no proof of him.
In this fairy tale he'll live, so let us all now sing:

Once, once, once there was a little gnome.
Once, once, once there was a gnome.

## Common questions

**What is "Enkrat je bil en škrat" about?**

A little gnome (a "škrat"). He has a long grey beard and carries a little basket on his back, full of gold; he gladly helps all good people, but scorns the wicked and has no eye for them. The last verse answers a doubter — you say he never existed and there's no proof — with the promise that he lives on in this very song, so let's all sing it.

**Who wrote "Enkrat je bil en škrat"?**

Lenčka Kupper, one of the most important Carinthian Slovene authors of children's songs, who wrote some 200 songs. This one was first performed in 1980 and is now sung by Slovenian children in Carinthia, in Slovenia and in Slovene communities around the world.

**Why does the last verse talk about proof?**

It gently answers a sceptical child. Rather than insisting the gnome is real, it offers something better — that he goes on living inside the fairy tale and the song itself, which is why everyone is invited to keep singing him into being.

## Sources

- [Wikipedija — Lenčka Kupper](https://sl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Len%C4%8Dka_Kupper)