The Fox, the Wolf, and the Bear

THE little fox, the wolf and bear made peace ;
Like kinsfolk all, they bade their warfare cease.
The fox they consecrate a hermit now ;—
False monk, false hermit, false recluse’s vow !

The little fox a sack found in the street
Through which he thrust his head ; then shod his feet
With iron shoes, and got a staff, I trow—
False monk, false hermit, false recluse’s vow !

The fox has sent the wolf to fetch the bear.
” For him, ” he said, ” I live this life of care ;
Yet never hath he sent me aught to eat :—
Sore are my knees with walking, sore my feet ! “

At morning dawn forth to the hunt they creep ;
A ram they catch, a lambkin and a sheep.
Holy dispenser is the wolf proclaimed—
Unjust dispenser, judge unwisely named !

He gives the sheep as portion to the bear ;
The lambkin falls to the poor hermit’s share.
” The ram for me, ” he said, ” I’m tired and lamed “—
Unjust dispenser, judge unwisely named !

The bear was wroth, and turned him round about,
And with one blow the wolf’s two eyes put out.
” That sheep for me, a bear so great and famed ?
Unjust dispenser, judge unwisely named ! “

The little fox is sore afraid, and sees
A trap laid ready with a piece of cheese.
” O uncle, see, I’ve built a convent here, “
He said, ” a place of rest, a place of prayer ! “

The bear stretched out his paw for the repast,
The trap upon his neck closed hard and fast.
” Help me, my little nephew, for I fear
This is no convent, ’tis no house of prayer ! “

The little fox with joy beheld the whole
And sang a mass for his great uncle’s soul.
” The wrong thou didst the wolf has brought thee there ;
It is a house of rest, a house of prayer ! “

O sovereign Justice, much thou pleasest me—
Who wrongs another soon shall cease to be.
And fasting in the trap must lie the bear,—
For ’tis a house of rest, a house of prayer !

Armenian legends and poems by Zabelle C. Boyajian and Aram Raffi, London & New York, 1916.

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