A brief moment rules a smart,
A fool knows all from reading.
Smart and fool are always apart,
Smart is weight, and fool is clothing!
Умным правит краткий миг
глупый знает все из книг
Умный глупому не пара
Умный груз, а глупый тара.
«A gray Wolf seized a Sheep / And dragged it off into the woods with him. / But he hadn’t brought this guest along to keep / Him company: he tore the poor lamb limb from limb, / And then most ravenously munched, / So that the sheep-bones crackled, snapped, and crunched. Since there was s...»
«A Peasant had a Sheep indicted / And brought to trial for a heinous crime. / The judge, a Fox, was not one to waste time. / He told both parties: “Now, without getting excited / And shouting at each other, tell the Court just what took place. / Include all evidence material to the case....»
«The Snake asked Zeus to take away his hiss. / And let him have a songbird’s voice instead. / “I’m miserable,” he moaned. “I can’t go on like this. / Wherever I rear up my head. / They shy away from me like sin; / Your smaller creatures do, at least; / And as for any bigger be...»
«A Swan, a Sand-Crab, and a Pike, one day, / Made up their minds to pull a cart of hay. / When all three had been harnessed up, the Swan said, “Start!” / I hey labored mightily, but couldn’t budge the cart. / Why not ? It was a light load, and not awkward. / But the Swan kept trying t...»