Français
Español
Italiano
Deutsch
Português
Two Roosters lived in peace: a Hen appeared,
And lo, war was ignited.
Love, you destroyed Troy; and from you came
This poisoned quarrel,
Where the Xanthus was seen stained with the blood of even the Gods.
For a long time between our Roosters the fight persisted:
The noise of it spread through all the neighborhood.
The crested folk rushed to the spectacle.
More than one Helen with beautiful plumage
Was the victor’s prize; the vanquished disappeared.
He went to hide deep in his retreat,
Wept for his glory and his loves,
His loves that a rival, proud of his defeat,
Possessed before his eyes. He saw every day
That object rekindle his hatred and his courage.
He sharpened his beak, beat the air and his flanks,
And practicing against the winds
Armed himself with jealous rage.
He had no need of it. His victor onto the roofs
Went to perch, and sing his victory.
A Vulture heard his voice:
Farewell loves and glory.
All that pride perished under the Vulture’s talon.
At last by a fatal turn
His rival around the Hen
Came back to play the coquet:
I leave you to imagine what cackling,
For he had women in droves.
Fortune takes pleasure in such blows;
Every insolent victor works toward his own ruin.
Let us distrust fate, and be on our guard
After the gain of a battle.
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-two-roosters-jean-de-la-fontaine/