Lyrics
Celotno besedilo pesmi »Lenka« z angleškim prevodom.
Lenka se šeta – metla pometa; Lenka počiva – igla ji šiva; Lenka pred duri – peč se zakuri, a kokotiček skoči v lončiček, leže v ponvico, dvigne glavico: »Lenčica, Lenka, kikiriki! Sem že pečenka, jest se mudi!«
#English translation
Lenka goes strolling — the broom does the sweeping; Lenka takes a rest — the needle does her sewing; Lenka stands at the door — the stove lights itself, and a little cockerel hops into the little pot, lies down in the pan, lifts up its head: "Lazy little Lenka, cock-a-doodle-doo! I'm already roasted, dinner won't wait!"
#Lenka at a glance
- Country of origin
- 🇸🇮 Slovenia
- Sung in
- Slovenian
- Words by
- Oton Župančič
- First known
- by Oton Župančič (collection "Mehurčki")
- Best for ages
- 2–7
- Mood
- playful, traditional
- Last updated
- 27 August 2026
Meaning and origin
This is one of the best-loved poems in Slovenian childhood, and it is the work not of an anonymous folk tradition but of a great poet: Oton Župančič (1878–1949), from his celebrated collection of children’s verse Mehurčki (“Little Bubbles”). Its heroine is Lenka — her name from len, “lazy” — and the joke is that she never has to do a thing, because in her charmed world everything does itself. She strolls, and the broom sweeps; she rests, and the needle sews; she stands at the door, and the stove lights on its own.
The poem builds to a gorgeously silly climax: a little cockerel simply hops into the pot, lies down in the pan, lifts its head and crows at her — cock-a-doodle-doo! I’m already a roast, dinner can’t wait! — which is why the punchline is a rooster’s cry. It is at once a tease about laziness and a child’s perfect daydream, a world so obliging that idleness is rewarded rather than scolded. Župančič’s light, musical touch turns that small fantasy into something children have delighted in reciting for generations.
Common questions
- What is "Lenka" about?
- A wonderfully lazy girl. Her name comes from "len" (lazy), and in the poem she never lifts a finger — because everything does itself: she strolls and the broom sweeps, she rests and the needle sews, she stands at the door and the stove lights itself. At the end even a little cockerel hops into the pot, lies down in the pan, lifts its head and crows that it is already a roast and dinner can't wait.
- Who wrote "Lenka"?
- The poem is by Oton Župančič (1878–1949), one of the greatest Slovenian poets, from his famous collection of children's verse "Mehurčki" ("Little Bubbles"). Generations of Slovenian children have grown up reciting it.
- Is "Lenka" making fun of laziness?
- Gently and delightfully, yes. It imagines laziness taken to its fairy-tale extreme — a world so obliging that a lazy girl need do nothing at all — which is both a tease and a child's daydream come true.
