Pete Seeger wrote the best-known translation of "Oleanna" in 1955. He did not have a verse about a hickory stick. That was written by Theodore Bikel, who recorded the song on the 1959 album "Folk Songs From Just About Everywhere" on the Elektra label.

In 1960 Theodore Bikel and Alan Lomax each published versions of "Oleanna" that drew on Seeger's translation, Ditmar Meidell's original lyrics and their own imaginations. Lomax adapted Seeger's lyrics and added three new verses of his own.

The cows and calves do all the work,
They milk and churn till the dairy's full,
While the bull keeps herd production high
And sends reports to Ole Bull.

The sun keeps shining day and night,
Till the moon politely asks a turn,
As the harvest here is once a month,
We've time to waste and money to burn.

They pay you here for getting drunk,
The more you drink, the more they pay,
So the rich man is the lazy man,
Who drinks all night and sleeps all day.

Source: Folk Songs of North America by Alan Lomax, Doubleday, 1960, pp. 88-89)