Then Ban-Ban led us where the flowers
Smiled through the dews,
And bade us spend long, happy hours
Beside our river Meuse.
Ah, we cats will love him ever,
Absent though he be;
Cats’ mem’ries are forgetful never
Of good, nor cruelty.
“Go, then, dear Ban, since we must lend you—
Lend, but not give!