All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful:
The Lord God made them all.
~ Cecil F. Alexander (1887)
Domestic Terrorists
The day we had mice - one brown - one grey - both tiny,
my mother screamed, then stood on the kitchen table.
I thought they were cute and wanted to play with them.
Certainly they were unique to me at three.
Father dashed in (it was Saturday),
and then rushed at them brandishing the broom.
I was glad they both got away,
scurrying toward the basement storage room.
But father soon went out, and took the lead,
and set traps baited with bits of cheddar cheese.
Afterward we found the creatures dead ––
necks crushed. I felt ill at ease.
Poor little things! All they knew was hunger.
Should hunger be a capital offense?
~ FreeThinke
__ ORIGINAL GERMAN __
Kleine Gäste, kleines Haus.
Liebe Mäusin oder Maus,
Stelle dich nur kecklich ein
Heute Nacht bei Mondenschein!
Mach aber die Tür fein hinter dir zu,
Hörst du?
Dabei hüte dein Schwänzchen!
Nach Tische singen wir,
Nach Tische springen wir
Und machen ein Tänzchen:
Witt witt!
Meine alte Katze tanzt
wahrscheinlich mit.
~ Edouard Moerike
_____ ENGLISH TRANSLATION _____
Little guests in your mouse-hole house.
Little guests in your mouse-hole house.
Lovely Miss or Mister Mouse,
Prepare yourself, bold and bright,
This evening in the pale moonlight!
Be very sure to lock your door!
Got that? And then, do wait for more!
You'll preserve your tail, for sure!
After dining, raucous singing starts --
Oh, after dinner we'll take our parts
And have some lively dancing:
Sniff! Smell!
My old cats might dance too near
to where you dwell!
~ Edouard Moerike (translated)
I don't kill anything unless I have to. The last thing I did take out was a huge spider that looked like it could kill our cats if they wandered out there.
ReplyDeleteInteresting aspect to the story. The big spider with 3 legs each side pointing out rather than all directions was sitting in front of a cricket who was about 8 inches away going Chirp....chirp... My foot came down on the spider and the cricket went nuts chirping its heart out. I took it he was thanking me for saving his life.
What a nice bit of verse!
ReplyDeleteI get along fine with the mice in our cellar -- until, of course, they raid the pantry and eat out the cereals, rice cakes, etc. Of course, that kind of destruction isn't happening much now. Minxy is a huntress, and the very scent of her has scared away the mice.
Meanwhile, in the shed, we have a mouse condominium.
So nice, your verses are always so good....Nice to find this blog! (where was I?!!) Anyway, re mice, I'd be on the kitchen table with your mother till I got used to seeing them, then I'm usually pretty okay! When we lived in Orlando, I about fainted when walking into the kitchen the first morning and seeing gekos and lizards on the screen door! Or when I heard skittering when walking through the dry leaves to my neighbors! But I got used to it and even learned to like the zoo around our home!
ReplyDeleteAOW.."mouse condominium" ARGH!
Kid...i hate spiders :-)
__ ORIGINAL GERMAN __
ReplyDeleteKleine Gäste, kleines Haus.
Liebe Mäusin oder Maus,
Stelle dich nur kecklich ein
Heute Nacht bei Mondenschein!
Mach aber die Tür fein hinter dir zu,
Hörst du?
Dabei hüte dein Schwänzchen!
Nach Tische singen wir,
Nach Tische springen wir
Und machen ein Tänzchen:
Witt witt!
Meine alte Katze tanzt wahrscheinlich mit.
~ Eudoard Moerike
_____ ENGLISH TRANSLATION _____
Little guests in your mouse-hole house.
Lovely Miss or Mister Mouse,
Prepare yourself, bold and bright,
This evening in the pale moonlight!
Be very sure to lock your door!
Got that? And then, do wait for more!
You'll preserve your tail, for sure!
After dining, raucous singing starts --
Oh, after dinner we'll take our parts
And have some lively dancing:
Sniff! Smell!
My old cats might dance too near to where you dwell!
~ Moerike (translated)
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThe subject is MICE and how best we should regard them.
DeleteIf you wish to avoid deletion in future, please address the TOPIC of the post.
Thank you, and MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Franco Aragosta, your ANGER towards people who do not conform with your demands is outrageous, and boarders on insanity. As another Libertarian blogger on another blog has constantly said, your good sense, and your ability in the use of Good Judgement has past it's prime. And perhaps i't time to Hang It Up!
DeleteShaws place isn't a blog, it's a Silly, and Stupid Hate Trump chat room with only 2- to 3 people that participate in her Hatred, and who are as Ignorant as she is..
ReplyDeleteIf you read any of Shaws postings you'd soon realize she's just an Angry, Bitter Ignorant dried up Old Cow.