The Warbler and the Nightingale

Fable by Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian Period 18th century

A warbler whose voice
enchanted the echoes with its extreme sweetness
hoped to surpass the nightingale himself,
and challenged him. In the woods they chose
a spot fit for the contest. The judges took their places:
they were the linnet, the canary,
the robin and the siskin.
All the other birds perched behind them.
Two old goldfinches and two young chaffinches
were guards of the field, the blackbird was trumpeter.
He gives the signal: at once the warbler
lets the sweetest sounds be heard;
with skill she varies
from her drawn-out notes the touching harmony,
and ravishes all hearts with her tender songs.
The assembly applauds. Soon silence is made:
then the nightingale begins.
Three pure, even, brilliant chords,
finished by a just and perfect cadence,
are the prelude to his songs;
then his flexible throat,
running without effort through all the tones of his voice,
now lively and hurried, now slow and tender,
astonishes and delights at once.
The judges, however, remained in suspense.
The linnet, the canary, friends of the warbler,
would not give any prize:
the others argued. The assembly in silence
listened to their learned opinions,
when a jay cried out: victory to the warbler!
That word decided her defeat:
for the nightingale at once
the winged areopagus with one voice declares.
Thus the vote of a fool
does more harm than his criticism.

Florian

Translation generated by Poésies 123 with assistance from the deepseek-chat artificial-intelligence model.

Text published on Poésies 123: https://www.poesies123.com/en/fable-the-warbler-and-the-nightingale-jean-pierre-claris-de-florian/