The Young Man and the Old Man

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

Pray, tell me how one makes a fortune,
a young ambitious man asked his father.
There is, said the old man, a glorious path,
it is to make oneself useful to the common cause,
to lavish one’s days, one’s vigils, one’s talents,
in the service of the fatherland.
-oh! Too arduous is this life,
I want less brilliant means.
-there are surer ones, intrigue… -it is too vile,
without vice and without work I would like to enrich myself.
-well then! Be a simple imbecile,
I have seen many succeed.

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-young-man-and-the-old-man-jean-pierre-claris-de-florian/