The Bullfinch and the Crow

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

A bullfinch, a crow, each in a cage,
lived in the same house.
One enchanted with his song
the wife, the husband, the servants, the whole household:
the other tired them ceaselessly with his cries;
he asked for bread, roast meat, cheese,
which they hurried to bring him,
so that he would kindly be quiet.
The timid bullfinch did nothing but sing,
and asked for nothing: so, as a rule,
they forgot him; the poor bird
often lacked grain and water.
Those who praised most the harmony of his song
would not have taken the slightest step
to see if his trough was filled.
They loved him well enough, yet they did not think of it.
One day he was found dead of hunger in his cage.
Ah! What a misfortune! They said: alas! He sang so well!
Of what then did he die? Truly, it is a great loss!
The crow still cries and lacks nothing.

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-le-bouvreuil-et-le-corbeau-jean-pierre-claris-de-florian-2/