The Two Cats

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

Two cats descended from the famous Rodilard,
and both worthy of their noble origin,
differed in plumpness: one was fat as lard,
he was the elder; beneath his ermine
he had the look of a canon,
so plump was he, chubby, fresh, and handsome:
the younger had only skin
clinging to his sharp and bony spine.
Yet this younger one, from morning until night,
from the cellar to the gutter
would trot and run, you should have seen,
without ever dining any better.
At last, one day, in despair,
he addressed these words to his brother:
explain to me by what means,
spending your life doing nothing,
while I work always, they feed you so well,
and me so poorly. The thing is clear,
the elder answered: you race all through the house
to eat but rarely some scrawny mouse…
-is that not my duty? -agreed, that may be so:
but I stay beside the master;
I know how to amuse him with my tricks.
Admitted to his meals without his reprimand,
I take good morsels, and then I beg for them
by making a velvet paw,
while you, poor imbecile,
you know nothing but to serve him;
go on, the secret of success
is to be clever, not to be useful.

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-les-deux-chats-jean-pierre-claris-de-florian-2/