Chrząszcz

Chrząszcz (beetle, chafer) by Jan Brzechwa is a poem famous for being one of the hardest-to-pronounce texts in Polish literature, and may cause problems even for adult, native Polish speakers.

Polish original	Phonetic transcription	English translation
W Szczebrzeszynie chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie	[fʂt͡ʂɛbʐɛʂɨɲɛ xʂɔɰ̃ʂt͡ʂ bʐmi ftʂt͡ɕiɲɛ]	In Szczebrzeszyn a beetle sounds in the reeds
I Szczebrzeszyn z tego słynie.	[iʂt͡ʂɛbʐɛʂɨn stɛɡɔ swɨɲɛ]	And Szczebrzeszyn is famous for this.
Wół go pyta: „Panie chrząszczu,	[vuw ɡɔ pɨta paɲɛ xʂɔɰ̃ʂt͡ʂu]	An ox asks him: “Mister beetle,
Po cóż pan tak brzęczy w gąszczu?"	[pɔ t͡suʂ pan tak bʐɛnt͡ʂɨ vɡɔɰ̃ʂt͡ʂu]	What are you buzzing in the bushes for?”

Monument to the poem's hero

The first line “W Szczebrzeszynie chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie” (In Szczebrzeszyn a beetle buzzes in the reed) is a well-known Polish tongue-twister.

Thanks to the poem, the town of Szczebrzeszyn is widely known in Poland. A monument to the beetle was erected there in 2002, and a yearly sculpture festival has been held there ever since.

Chrząszcz was translated into English by Walter Whipple as Cricket (whose Polish equivalent is also difficult to pronounce for non-Polish speakers: świerszcz).

See also

• Polish literature