Chrząszcz

{{Short description|20th-century poem by Jan Brzechwa, popular as a tongue-twister}}

Chrząszcz (beetle, chafer) by Jan Brzechwa is a tongue-twister poem famous for being considered one of the hardest-to-pronounce texts in Polish literature. It may cause problems even for adult, native Polish speakers.{{Cite book |last1=Kwapisz |first1=Jan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G1qXOcPy-dYC&dq=Chrz%C4%85szcz+brzechwa+pronounce&pg=PA1 |title=The Muse at Play: Riddles and Wordplay in Greek and Latin Poetry |last2=Petrain |first2=David |last3=Szymanski |first3=Mikolaj |date=2012-12-06 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-027061-7 |pages=1 |language=en}}{{Cite journal |last=Niesporek-Szamburska |first=Bernadeta |date=2010 |title=Zabawy brzmieniem we współczesnych wierszach dziecięcych |url=https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=145540 |journal=Język Artystyczny |language=Polish |issue=14 |pages=141–156 |issn=0209-3731}}[https://culture.pl/en/article/10-craziest-polish-tongue-twisters 10 Craziest Polish Tongue Twisters]

The first few lines of the poem:

align="center" cellspacing="15px" !{{Audio|Chrzaszcz.ogg|Polish original}}!!Phonemic transcription!!English translation

W Szczebrzeszynie chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie |{{IPA|/f ʃt͡ʃˌɛbʒɛʃˈɨɲʲɛ xʃˈɔ̃ʒd͡ʒ bʒmˈi f tʃt͡ɕˈiɲʲɛ/}} |In Szczebrzeszyn a beetle buzzes in the reeds

I Szczebrzeszyn z tego słynie. |{{IPA|/i ʃt͡ʃɛbʒˈɛʃɨn s tˌɛɡɔ swˈɨɲʲɛ/}} |And Szczebrzeszyn is famous for this.

Wół go pyta: „Panie chrząszczu, |{{IPA|/vˈuw ɡˈɔ pˈɨta "pˈaɲʲɛ xʃˈɔ̃ʃt͡ʃu"/}} |An ox asks him: "Mr. Beetle,

Po cóż pan tak brzęczy w gąszczu?" |{{IPA|/pɔ t͡sˈuʃ pˈan tˈaɡ bʒˈɛnt͡ʃɨ w ɡˈɔ̃ʃt͡ʃu?/}} |What are you buzzing in the bushes for?"

Image:Chrzaszcz2.JPG

The first line "W Szczebrzeszynie chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie"

(In Szczebrzeszyn a beetle buzzes in the reed) is a well-known Polish tongue-twister and dates to at least the 19th century.

Thanks to the poem, the town of Szczebrzeszyn is widely known in Poland. Two monuments to the beetle were erected there, and a yearly sculpture festival has been held there ever since.{{cn|date=August 2024}}

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