“But with sweet stupefaction my soul drinks in
“That sound which all others surpasses;
“An ass am I, and each hair in the skin
“Of my tail the hair of an ass is.
“I am not a Papist, I am not a slave,
“A German ass am I solely;
“The same as my fathers, who all were so brave,
“So thoughtful, demure, and so holy.
“They were not addicted to doing ill,
“Or practising gallantry gaily;
“But trotted off with the sack to the mill
“In frolicsome fashion daily.
“Our fathers still live. In the tomb only lie
“Their skins, their mortal covering;
“Their happy spirits, high up in the sky,
“Complacently o’er us are hovering.
“Ye glorified asses, ye need not doubt
“That we fain would resemble you ever,
“And from the path that duty points out
“We’ll swerve a finger’s breadth never.
“O what a delight an ass to be,
“From such long-ear’d worthies descended!
“From every house-top I’d fain shout with glee:
“‘An ass I was born—how splendid!’
“The noble jackass who gave me birth
“Was of genuine German extraction;
“From my mother, a German ass of worth,
“My milk suck’d I with great satisfaction.
“An ass am I, and fully intend,
“Like my fathers who now are departed,
“To stand by the asses, yes, stand to the end
“By the asses so dear and true-hearted.
“And since I’m an ass, I advise you all round
“To choose your king from the asses;
“A mighty ass-kingdom we thus will found,
“They being the governing classes.
“We all are asses. Hee-ha! Hee-ha!
“As ostlers we will not demean us;
“Away with the horses! Long live, hurrah,
“The king of the asinine genus!”