The Two Travelers

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

Old Thomas and his friend Lubin
were walking together to the neighboring town.
Thomas finds on his path
a purse full of gold coins;
he pockets it at once. Lubin, with a cheerful air,
tells him: what good fortune for us!
No, answers Thomas coldly,
for us is not well said, for me is different.
Lubin says no more; but, leaving the plain,
they find thieves hidden in the nearby wood.
Thomas trembling, and not without cause,
says: we are lost! No, Lubin answers him,
we is not the right word, but you, that is another thing.
Having said this, he escapes through the thickets.
Motionless with fear, Thomas is soon caught,
he draws out the purse and gives it.
He who thinks only of himself when his fortune is good
has no friends in misfortune.

Florian

Translation generated by Poésies 123 with assistance from the deepseek-chat artificial-intelligence model.

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