Page:Poetry of the Magyars.djvu/165

Rh FABLE:—THE BADGER AND THE SQUIRREL.

A' tunya borz szennyes gödrében nézte szökéseit.

badger, from his noisome dwelling,

Observ'd from branch to branch a squirrel springing:

'Twas near the badger's den where dwelt the squirrel,

On an old tree, to Pan once consecrated.

"Ho! Cousin, Ho!" so cried the dirty badger,

"Hast thou forgotten, say, that thou by nature

Art classed among the quadrupeds? 'Tis folly

And an unseemly vanity that make thee

Ashamed of earth—and seeking habitation

Among the fowls of heaven. Descend, companion;

Come dwell among thy kindred, and abandon

Thy towering friskings. Cousin bear leaps often,

I too, sometimes—but then it is with discretion."

The little creature listened to the counsel,

And answered meekly—"I am but a squirrel,

And thou—a badger."