The Children and the Partridges

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

Two children of a farmer, gentle, playful, handsome,
but a little spoiled by their father,
seeking nests in their enclosure,
found some little partridges
fluttering after their mother.
You can imagine the joy, and how my little rascals
to the troop that scatters
cut off the paths everywhere,
and their hands are not enough
to take the poor family!
The partridge, dragging her wing, calling her little ones,
turns in vain, flutters, approaches;
already my young scatterbrains
have all her brood in their pocket.
They want to share like good friends;
each keeps six, there remains a thirteenth:
the elder wants it, the other wants it too.
—Let’s draw with a wet finger. —By Jove no. —By Jove yes.
—Give in, or else you’ll see. —But you’ll see yourself.
From word to word, the elder, impatient,
throws at his brother’s head
the disputed partridge. The younger in anger
with one of his own retaliates at once.
The elder starts again all the more;
and this game that pleases them covers the ground around them
with poor palpitating partridges.
The farmer, who was passing on his way back from the fields,
sees this bloody spectacle,
runs up, and says to his children:
what now! Little kings, your cruel discords
make so many innocents expire by your blows!
By what right, if you please, in your sad quarrels,
must they die for you

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-children-and-the-partridges-jean-pierre-claris-de-florian/