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A Goat, a Sheep, and a fat Pig,
Riding on the same cart, were on their way to the fair:
Their amusement did not take them there;
They were going to be sold, so the story goes:
The carter had no intention
Of taking them to see Tabarin,
Dom Pourceau* cried out along the way
As if he had a hundred butchers at his heels.
It was a clamor to make people deaf:
The other animals, gentler creatures,
Good folk, were astonished that he cried for help;
They saw no harm to fear.
The carter said to the Pig: What have you to complain about so much?
You deafen us all, why don’t you keep quiet?
These two creatures here, more honest than you,
Should teach you how to live, or at least to be silent.
Look at this Sheep; did he say a single word?
He is wise. – He is a fool,
Replied the Pig: if he knew his business,
He would cry like me, at the top of his throat,
And this other honest creature
Would cry out at the top of her head.
They think that they only want to unload them,
The Goat of her milk, the Sheep of his wool.
I don’t know if they are right;
But as for me, who am good
Only to eat, my death is certain.
Farewell my roof and my home.
Dom Pourceau reasoned as a subtle character:
But what use was it to him? When the harm is certain,
Complaint nor fear change destiny;
And the least foreseeing is always the wisest.
Jean de La Fontaine
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-pig-the-goat-and-the-sheep-jean-de-la-fontaine/