The She-Monkey, the Monkey and the Nut

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

A young she-monkey plucked
a nut in its green husk;
she bites into it, makes a face… ah! To be sure,
she said, my mother lied
when she assured me that nuts were good.
Then, trust the talk of those old folks
who deceive the young! To the devil with the fruit!
She throws the nut. A monkey picks it up,
quickly breaks it between two stones,
shells it, eats it, and says to her:
your mother was right, my dear:
nuts taste very good, but you have to open them.
Remember that, in life,
without a little work there is no pleasure.

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-she-monkey-the-monkey-and-the-nut-jean-pierre-claris-de-florian/