King Alphonso

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

A certain king who reigned on the banks of the Tagus,
and whom people nicknamed the Wise,
not because he was prudent,
but because he was learned,
Alphonso was above all a skilled astronomer.
He knew the sky far better than his kingdom,
and often left his council
for the moon or for the sun.
One evening as he was returning to his observatory,
surrounded by his courtiers,
my friends, he said, at last I have reason to believe
that with my new instruments
I shall see men in the moon tonight.
Your Majesty will see them,
they replied; the thing is even too common,
she must see better than that.
During all this talk, a poor man, in the street,
approaches, humbly asking, hat in hand,
a few maravedis: the king does not hear him,
and, without looking at him, continues on his way.
The poor man follows the king, still holding out his hand,
still renewing his importunate plea;
but, his eyes turned to the sky, the king, for all refrain,
repeated: I shall see men in the moon.
At last the poor man seizes him
by his royal cloak, and gravely says to him:
it is not from up there, it is from the places where we are
that God made you sovereign.
Look at your feet; there you will see men,
and men lacking bread.

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-roi-alphonse-jean-pierre-claris-de-florian-2/