The Squirrel, the Dog, and the Fox

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

A gentle squirrel was the comrade,
the tender friend of a handsome Danish dog.
One day as they were traveling like Orestes and Pylades,
night surprised them in a wood.
In that place no inn; they had trouble
finding a good spot to sleep.
At last the dog settled in the hollow of an old oak,
and the squirrel climbed higher to nest.
Toward midnight, the hour of crimes,
long after our friends,
saying good night to each other, had fallen asleep,
behold, an old fox famished for victims
arrives at the foot of the tree, and, raising his snout,
sees the squirrel on a branch.
He devours him with his eyes, moistens with his tongue
his lips that burn to quench themselves in blood;
but he cannot reach the squirrel:
he must therefore by a speech
persuade him to come down; and here is his discourse:
friend, forgive me, I beg you,
if I dare disturb the course of your sleep:
but the pious transport with which my soul is filled
cannot be contained; I am your first
cousin:
your mother was the sister of my late worthy father.
That honest man, alas! at his final hour,
so earnestly urged me to seek out his nephew
to give him half of the little
he left me in wealth! Come then, my dear brother,
come, with an embrace,
fulfill the sweet pleasure that my soul feels.
If I could climb up to the places where you are,
oh! I would already be there, be quite certain.
Squirrels are no fools,
and mine was very cunning;
he recognizes the flatterer,
and replies in a gentle tone: I am dying of impatience
to embrace you, my cousin;
I am coming down: but, to better cement our acquaintance,
I want to introduce my most faithful friend,
a relative who took care to nourish my childhood;
he sleeps in that hole there: knock a bit; I think
you will be delighted to know him too.
Immediately master fox knocks,
thinking to eat two: but the faithful dog
darts from the tree, snaps him up,
and promptly strangles him.
This proves two points: first, that it is useful
in sweet friendship to place one’s happiness;
then, that with wit it is often easy
to surprise a deceiver in the trap he sets for us.

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-squirrel-the-dog-and-the-fox-jean-pierre-claris-de-florian/