Atta Troll. A Summer-Night's Dream - Caput 5
CAPUT V
In the hole among his dear ones,
Sick and ailing in his spirit,
On his back lies Atta Troll,
And he sucks his paws and muses:
" Mumma, Mumma, dark-hued pearl
That I fished from out the ocean
Of our life, within its waters
I have lost thee to my sorrow!
" Shall I never more behold thee,
Till, beyond the grave transfigured,
I shall see thy soul untrammelled
By the shaggy locks of earth?
" Ah! ere then might I but lick her,
Lick my Mumma on the muzzle!
Muzzle fair as if anointed
With the sweet of virgin honey!
" Once again to sniff the odour
Clinging only to my Mumma,
To my dear, my swarthy Mumma,
Like the scent of fragrant roses!
" But my Mumma's left to languish
In the fetters of the race
That is known as Man, and prides it
On the lordship of the world.
" Death and hell! Those men so mighty,
Those aristocrats exalted,
Look contemptuously downward
On all animals created;
" Steal our wives from us and children,
Chain us, shamefully entreat us;
Even kill us, in our bodies
And our skins that they may traffic!
" And they deem themselves entitled
To inflict such deeds of evil
On the bears beyond all others,
And they call it Rights of Man!
" Rights of Man, forsooth! Who was it
That enfeoffed you with the rights, then?
Nature? No; for Nature never
Was unnatural to any.
" Rights of Man, forsooth! Who gave you
Then those privileges sacred?
Reason? No; for Reason never
Was unreasonable yet.
" Are ye better, then, than others
O ye men! because your dinners
Must be either boiled or roasted?
We devour our dinners raw.
" But the consequences surely
Are the same — it is not eating
That upraises or ennobles;
Noble is that noble does.
" Are ye better for the reason
That ye cultivate, with profit,
Arts and sciences? We others
Are not altogether fools.
" Were there never learned dogs? —
Never horses who could reckon
Like a councillor of Commerce?
Are not hares the best of drummers?
" Have not beavers gained distinction
In the art of hydrostatics?
Were not storks our benefactors
In the matter of the clyster?
" Are reviews not penned by asses?
Are not monkeys good comedians?
Could a mimic well be greater
Than Batavia the meercat.
" Are the nightingales not singers?
Is not Freiligrath a poet?
Who could sing the lion better
Than his countryman the camel?
" In the noble art of dancing
I am more expert than Raumer
As an author — is his writing
More expert than my performance?
" How, O men! are ye then better
Than we others? Upright, truly,
Ye can hold your heads, but abject
Are the thoughts that crawl within them.
" Are ye better, then, than others,
O ye men! because your skin is
Smooth and shining? That advantage
With the snakes ye have in common.
" Snakes bifurcated ye men are;
I can well conceive the uses
Of your trousers; serpent-naked,
Ye must borrow wool to clothe you.
" Flee and shun them, O my children!
Always shun those bald abortions!
Never trust the thing, my daughters,
That approaches you in breeches! "
I refrain from telling further
How the bear, with giddy notions
Of equality, continued
On the human race to reason.
For, when all is said, I also
Am a man, and I will never
Recapitulate the follies
Which are, after all, offensive.
Yes, a man am I, and better
Than the other mammals surely;
I will never prove a traitor
To the interests of birth.
In the war with other creatures
I will still be staunch and loyal
To my kind, and to the holy
And the inborn Rights of Man.
In the hole among his dear ones,
Sick and ailing in his spirit,
On his back lies Atta Troll,
And he sucks his paws and muses:
" Mumma, Mumma, dark-hued pearl
That I fished from out the ocean
Of our life, within its waters
I have lost thee to my sorrow!
" Shall I never more behold thee,
Till, beyond the grave transfigured,
I shall see thy soul untrammelled
By the shaggy locks of earth?
" Ah! ere then might I but lick her,
Lick my Mumma on the muzzle!
Muzzle fair as if anointed
With the sweet of virgin honey!
" Once again to sniff the odour
Clinging only to my Mumma,
To my dear, my swarthy Mumma,
Like the scent of fragrant roses!
" But my Mumma's left to languish
In the fetters of the race
That is known as Man, and prides it
On the lordship of the world.
" Death and hell! Those men so mighty,
Those aristocrats exalted,
Look contemptuously downward
On all animals created;
" Steal our wives from us and children,
Chain us, shamefully entreat us;
Even kill us, in our bodies
And our skins that they may traffic!
" And they deem themselves entitled
To inflict such deeds of evil
On the bears beyond all others,
And they call it Rights of Man!
" Rights of Man, forsooth! Who was it
That enfeoffed you with the rights, then?
Nature? No; for Nature never
Was unnatural to any.
" Rights of Man, forsooth! Who gave you
Then those privileges sacred?
Reason? No; for Reason never
Was unreasonable yet.
" Are ye better, then, than others
O ye men! because your dinners
Must be either boiled or roasted?
We devour our dinners raw.
" But the consequences surely
Are the same — it is not eating
That upraises or ennobles;
Noble is that noble does.
" Are ye better for the reason
That ye cultivate, with profit,
Arts and sciences? We others
Are not altogether fools.
" Were there never learned dogs? —
Never horses who could reckon
Like a councillor of Commerce?
Are not hares the best of drummers?
" Have not beavers gained distinction
In the art of hydrostatics?
Were not storks our benefactors
In the matter of the clyster?
" Are reviews not penned by asses?
Are not monkeys good comedians?
Could a mimic well be greater
Than Batavia the meercat.
" Are the nightingales not singers?
Is not Freiligrath a poet?
Who could sing the lion better
Than his countryman the camel?
" In the noble art of dancing
I am more expert than Raumer
As an author — is his writing
More expert than my performance?
" How, O men! are ye then better
Than we others? Upright, truly,
Ye can hold your heads, but abject
Are the thoughts that crawl within them.
" Are ye better, then, than others,
O ye men! because your skin is
Smooth and shining? That advantage
With the snakes ye have in common.
" Snakes bifurcated ye men are;
I can well conceive the uses
Of your trousers; serpent-naked,
Ye must borrow wool to clothe you.
" Flee and shun them, O my children!
Always shun those bald abortions!
Never trust the thing, my daughters,
That approaches you in breeches! "
I refrain from telling further
How the bear, with giddy notions
Of equality, continued
On the human race to reason.
For, when all is said, I also
Am a man, and I will never
Recapitulate the follies
Which are, after all, offensive.
Yes, a man am I, and better
Than the other mammals surely;
I will never prove a traitor
To the interests of birth.
In the war with other creatures
I will still be staunch and loyal
To my kind, and to the holy
And the inborn Rights of Man.
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