The Canaries and the Goldfinch

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

A bird fancier had, in great secret,
among the eggs of a canary hen
slipped the egg of a goldfinch.
The mother of the canaries, far more tender than shrewd,
never noticed it, and brooded as her own
this egg, which in no time came to term.
The little stranger, hatched from his shell,
receives the tender care of the two deceived spouses,
treated by them neither more nor less
than if he were of the family.
Lying in the down, he sleeps the livelong day
beside the canaries whose brother he believes himself,
receives his turn at the beakful of food,
and rests at night beneath his mother’s wing.
Each little bird grows, and, becoming a bird,
clothes itself in brilliant plumage;
the goldfinch alone never turns jonquil-yellow,
yet none the less believes himself the handsomest of the canaries.
His brothers think the very same:
dear error, which always makes the object we love
appear resembling us trait for trait!
Jealous of his happiness, an old goldfinch
comes to tell him: it is time at last that you knew yourself;
those for whom you have such tender feelings
are not your parents at all.
It was from a goldfinch that fate made you be born.
You were never a canary: look at yourself,
you have a tawny body and a scarlet head,
the beak… yes, says the bird, I have whatever you please,
but I have not an ungrateful soul,
and my heart will always cherish
those who cared for my infancy.
If my plumage does not much resemble theirs,
I am sorry for it, but their heart and mine
have a great resemblance.
You claim to prove that I am nothing to them;
their care proves me the contrary.
Nothing is true like what one feels.
For a grateful bird
a benefactor is more than a father.

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-canaries-and-the-goldfinch-jean-pierre-claris-de-florian/