Lyrics
Celotno besedilo pesmi »Enkrat je bil en škrat« z angleškim prevodom.
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.
#Enkrat, enkrat, enkrat je bil en majhen škrat. Enkrat, enkrat, enkrat je bil en škrat.
#Pomagal rad je vsem ljudem, ki dobri so bili. Hudobneže preziral je, za nje ni imel oči.
#Enkrat, enkrat, enkrat je bil en majhen škrat. Enkrat, enkrat, enkrat je bil en škrat.
#Ti praviš, da ga ni bilo, dokazov da še ni. V pravljici tej živel bo, zato zapojmo vsi:
#Enkrat, enkrat, enkrat je bil en majhen škrat. Enkrat, enkrat, enkrat je bil en škrat.
#English translation
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.
#Rights
The words of this song are by Lenčka Kupper and are still in copyright. They are reproduced here, credited, for family and classroom singing; no reuse licence has been obtained, and nothing on this page may be copied further. Rightsholders can ask for a correction or removal — see lyrics & credits.
Enkrat je bil en škrat at a glance
- Country of origin
- 🇸🇮 Slovenia
- Sung in
- Slovenian
- Words by
- Lenčka Kupper
- First known
- Words and music by Lenčka Kupper; first performed publicly on 19 October 1980 at the Dom glasbe in Klagenfurt
- Best for ages
- 2–7
- Mood
- playful, traditional
- Last updated
- 27 August 2026
Meaning and origin
This gentle song has the timeless opening of a fairy tale — once, once, there was a little gnome — and paints its hero in a few loving strokes: a long grey beard, and a little basket on his back brimming with gold. He is a thoroughly moral little creature, gladly helping everyone who is good, and simply having “no eye” for the wicked. It is a small, reassuring picture of a world where kindness is noticed and rewarded.
Its loveliest touch is the last verse, which quietly answers a doubting child. You say he never existed, it acknowledges, and there’s no proof — but he will go on living inside this very fairy tale, so let us all sing him into being. That is a tender little lesson about how stories keep things alive. The song — words and melody both — is by Lenčka Kupper (born 1938), one of the most important Carinthian Slovene writers of children’s songs, who began making up songs for her three sons and, by RTV Slovenija’s count, has written around two hundred of them. This one first won over an audience on 19 October 1980 at the Dom glasbe in Klagenfurt, and it is now sung by Slovenian children’s choirs and in Slovene schools and kindergartens all over the world.
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 (born 1938 in Bistrica pri Pliberku, Austrian Carinthia), one of the most important Carinthian Slovene authors of children's songs, who writes both the words and the melodies and has written around 200 of them, according to RTV Slovenija. This one was first sung to the public on 19 October 1980 at the Dom glasbe in Klagenfurt and is now sung by Slovenian children's choirs and in Slovene schools and kindergartens 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.
