[244]
Tomas de Yriarte (1750-1791) was a Spanish poet of some note, remembered now mainly as the author of Literary Fables, the first attempt at literary fable-writing in Spanish. As the name is meant to imply, they concern themselves with the follies and weaknesses of authors. There are about eighty fables in the complete collection, and they are full of ingenuity and cleverness. One of the simplest and best of these is given here in the translation by R. Rockliffe, which first appeared in Blackwood's Magazine in 1839. It laughs at the lucky chance by which even stupidity sometimes "makes a hit" and then stupidly proceeds to pat itself on the back.
THE MUSICAL ASS
TOMAS YRIARTE
The fable which I now present
Occurred to me by accident;
And whether bad or excellent,
Is merely so by accident.
A stupid ass one morning went
Into a field by accident
And cropp'd his food and was content,
Until he spied by accident
A flute, which some oblivious gent
Had left behind by accident;
When, sniffing it with eager scent,
He breathed on it by accident,
And made the hollow instrument
Emit a sound by accident.
"Hurrah! hurrah!" exclaimed the brute,
"How cleverly I play the flute!"
A fool, in spite of nature's bent.
May shine for once—by accident.
[245]
Ivan Andreevitch Krylov (1768-1844) was a Russian author whose fame rests almost entirely upon his popular verse fables (200 in number) which have been used extensively as textbooks in Russian schools. They have "joyousness, simplicity, wit, and good humor." The following specimen is from I. H. Harrison's translation of Krylov's Original Fables. It gives a good illustration of the necessity of "teamwork."
THE SWAN, THE PIKE, AND THE CRAB
IVAN KRYLOV
When partners with each other don't agree,
Each project must a failure be,
And out of it no profit come, but sheer vexation.
A Swan, a Pike, and Crab once took their station
In harness, and would drag a loaded cart;
But, when the moment came for them to start,
They sweat, they strain, and yet the cart stands still; what's lacking?
The load must, as it seemed, have been but light;
The Swan, though, to the clouds takes flight,
The Pike into the water pulls, the Crab keeps backing.
Now which of them was right, which wrong, concerns us not;
The cart is still upon the selfsame spot.