Excerpts from
Lundbye's Animal Fables
By Vagn Lundbye
The Elephant and Laura
The zoo calls all the beasts by names
after places, beers and men
The rhino now is known as James
the lion Lars, the mute swan Ben
And my heart throbs and sees an aura
every time I hear of Laura
When Laura comes to visit me
my wrinkled tail swings to and fro
And when she smiles exquisitely
My trunk will start to dance also.
If one day we become true friends
my tusks are hers till living ends.
Now see, the morning sun is shining
creatures of the dark must scatter
Hear the birds their song combining
sparrow, blackcap, starling chatter
The magpie whisks away our sorrow
We are so dearly loved each morrow
Translated by W. Glyn Jones
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