Machwerk
R.W. Aristoquakes
Teil 46 - 2
Der Kriegsveteran
nline mittels Handy nun
Gab's für den Frosch sehr viel zu tun.
Werk um Werk, zwecks besserem Verstehen
Hat Krotterich nun durchgesehen.
Weil im Stab in Pausbacks Heer
Er nie gelesen hat Homer,
Kannte er auch dessen heroisches Gedicht
In Englisch übersetzt noch nicht.
Als mit dem Handy in der Hand,
Er dieses bei Padraic Colum fand,
Hat gar froh und gut gelaunt,
Die Bilder all er sehr bestaunt,
Die dem Werk, um's zu beleben,
Aus dem umfangreichen Bildfundus
Der Muse Aristomyomaximus,
Waren erklärend beigegeben.
Den Text, weil Englisch er nicht recht verstand,
Hingegen übersah er gar weise kurzerhand.
***
The Battle of the Frogs and Mice
Der Froschmäusekrieg
-Kurzform in englischer Sprache-
-Kurzform in englischer Sprache-
A
warlike mouse came down to the brink of a pond for no other reason than to take
a drink of water. Up to him hopped a frog.
Speaking
in the voice of one who had rule and authority, the frog said:
“Stranger
to our shore, you my not know it, but I am Puff Jaw, king of the frogs. I do
not speak to common mice, but you, as I judge, belong to the noble and kingly
sort. Tell me your race. If I know it to be a noble one I shall show you my
kingly friendship.”
The
mouse, speaking haughtily, said: “I am Crumb Snatcher, and my race is a famous
one. My father is the heroic Bread Nibbler, and he married Quern Licker, the
lovely daughter of a king. Like all of my race I am a warrior who has never
been wont to flinch in battle. Moreover, I have been brought up as a mouse of
high degree, and figs and nuts, cheese and honey cakes is the provender that I
have been fed on.”
Now
this reply of Crumb Snatcher pleased the kingly frog greatly. “Come with me to
my abode, illustrious Crumb Snatcher,” said he, “and I shall show you such
entertainment as may be found in the house of a king.”
But the
mouse looked sharply at him. “How may I get to your house?” he asked. “We live
in different elements, you and I. We mice want to be in the driest of dry
places, while you frogs have your abodes in the water.”
“Ah,”
answered Puff Jaw, “you do not know how favoured frogs are above all other
creatures. To us alone the god has given the power to live both in water and on
the land. I shall take you to my land palace that is on the other side of the
pond.”
“How
may I go there with you?” asked Crumb Snatcher the mouse, doubtfully.
“Upon
my back,” said the frog. “Up now, noble Crumb Snatcher. And as we go I will show
you the wonders of the deep.”
He
offered his back and Crumb Snatcher bravely mounted. The mouse put his forepaws
around the frog’s neck. Then Puff Jaw swam out. Crumb Snatcher at first was
pleased to feel himself moving through the water. But as the dark waves began
to rise his mighty heart began to quail. He longed to be back upon the land. He
groaned aloud.
“How
quickly we get on,” cried Puff Jaw; “soon we shall be at my land palace.”
Heartened
by this speech, Crumb Snatcher put his tail into the water and worked it as a
steering oar. On and on they went, and Crumb Snatcher gained heart for the
adventure. What a wonderful tale he would have to tell to the clans of the
mice!
But
suddenly, out of the depths of the pond, a water snake raised his horrid head.
Fearsome did that head seem to both mouse and frog. And forgetful of the guest
that he carried upon his back, Puff Jaw dived down into the water. He reached
the bottom of the pond and lay on the mud in safety.
But far
from safety was Crumb Snatcher the mouse. He sank and rose, and sank again. His
wet fur weighed him down. But before he sunk for the last time he lifted up his
voice and cried out and his cry was heard at the brink of the pond:
Ah Puff
Jaw, treacherous frog! An evil thing you have done, leaving me to drown in the
middle of the pond. Had you faced me on the land I should have shown which of
us two was the better warrior. Now I must lose my life in the water. But I tell
you my death shall not go un-avenged -- the cowardly frogs will be punished for
the ill they have done to me who am the son of the king of the mice.”
Then
Crumb Snatcher sank for the last time. But Lick Platter, who was at the brink
of the pond, had heard his words. Straightaway this mouse rushed to the hole of
Bread Nibbler and told him of the dead of his princely son.
Bread Nibbler called out the clans of the mice.
The warrior mice armed themselves, and this was the grand way of the arming:
First,
the mice put on greaves that covered their forelegs. These they made out of bean
shells broken in two. For shield, each had a lamp’s centrepiece. For spears
they had the long bronze needles that they had carried out of the houses of
men. So armed and so accoutred they were ready to war upon the frogs. And Bread
Nibbler, their king, shouted to them: “Fall upon the cowardly frogs, and leave
not one alive upon the bank of the pond. Henceforth that bank is ours, and ours
only. Forward!”
And on
the other side, Puff Jaw was urging the frogs to battle. “Let us take our
places on the edge of the pond,” he said, “and when the mice come amongst us,
let each catch hold of one and throw him into the pond. Thus we will get rid
oft these dry bobs, the mice.”
The
frogs applauded the speech of their king, and straightaway they went to their
armours and their weapons. The legs they covered with the leaves of mallow. For
breastplates they had the leaves of beets. Cabbage leaves, well cut, made their
strong shields. They took their spears from the pond side—deadly pointed rushes
they were, and they placed upon their heads helmets that were empty snail
shells. So armed and so accoutred they were ready to meet the grand attack of
the mice.
The
gnats blew their trumpets. This was the dread signal for war.
Bread
Nibbler struck the first blow. He fell upon Loud Crier the frog, and overthrew
him. At this Loud Criers friend, Reedy, throw down spear and shield and dived
into the water. This seemed to presage victory for the mice. But then Water
Larker, the most warlike of the frogs, took up a great pebble and flung it to
ham Nibbler who was then pursuing Reedy. Down fell Ham Nibbler, and there was
dismay in the ranks of the mice.
Then
Cabbage Climber, a great-hearted frog, took up a clod of mud and flung it full
at a mouse that was coming furiously upon him. That mouse’s helmet was knocked
off and his forehead was plastered with the clod of mud, so that he was
well-nigh blinded.
It was
then that victory inclined to the frogs. Bread Nibbler again came into the
fray. He rushed furiously upon Puff Jaw the king.
Leeky,
the trusted friend of Puff Jaw, opposed Bread Nibblers onslaught. Mightily he
drove his spear at the king of the mice. But the point of the spear broke upon
Bread Nibblers shield, and then Leeky was overthrown.
Bread
Nibbler came upon Puff Jaw, end the two great kings faced each other. The frogs
and the mice drew aside, and there was a pause in the combat. Bread Nibbler the
mouse struck Puff Jaw the frog terribly upon the toes.
Puff
Jaw drew out of the battle. Now all would have been lost for the frogs had not
Zeus, the father of the gads, looked down upon the battle.
“Dear,
dear,” said Zeus, “what can be done to save the frogs? They will surely be
annihilated if the charge of yonder mouse is not halted.”
For the
father of the gods, looking down, saw a warrior mouse coming on in the most
dreadful onslaught of the whole battle. Slice Snatcher was the name of this
warrior. He had come into the field. He waited to split s chestnut in
two and put the halves upon his paws. Then, furiously dashing amongst the
frogs, he cried out that he would not leave the ground until he had destroyed
the race, leaving the bank of the pond a playground for the mice and for the
mice alone.
To stop
the charge of Slice Snatcher there was nothing for Zeus to do but hurl the thunderbolt
that is the terror of gods and men.
Frogs
and mice were awed by the thunder and the flame. But still the mice, urged on
by Slice Snatcher, did not hold back from their onslaught upon the frogs.
Now would the frogs have been utterly destroyed; but, as they dashed on, the mice encountered a new and dreadful army. The warriors in these ranks had mailed backs and curving claws. They had bandy legs and long-stretching arms. They had eyes that looked behind them. They came on sideways. These were the crabs, creatures until now unknown to the mice. And the crabs had been sent by Zeus to save the race of the frogs from utter destruction.
Coming upon the mice the nipped their paws. The mice turned around and they nipped their tails. In vain the boldest of the mice struck at the crab’s with their sharpened spears. Not upon the hard shells on the back of the crabs did the spears of the mice make any dint. On and on, on their queer feet and with their terrible nippers, the crabs went.
Bread
Nibbler could not rally them any more, and Slice Snatcher ceased to speak of
the monument of victory that the mice would erect upon the bank of the pond.
With their heads out of the water they had retreated to, the frogs watched the
finish of the battle. The mice threw down their spears and shields and fled
from the battleground. On went the crabs as if they cared nothing for their
victory, and the frogs came out of the water and sat upon the bank and watched
them in awe.
Eine französischsprachige
illustrierte Ausgabe des homerischen Tierkrieges
hier
***
Wie die Geschichte
weitergeht
In unsrer nächsten
Folge steht.
wird fortgesetzt
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