Arany János - Győrei Zsolt (szerk.): The trill of the nightingale (Budapest, 2019)

III - „His voice, once fine and heady, still a grumble deep” - The Nightingale (Peter Zollman)

The Nightingale

In bygone days, you surely know,

The Magyars loved going to Court, Addicted to this native sport;

(And was that quite so long ago?) - Take Peter and Paul, neighbours twain Upon the Great Hungarian Plain And inseparable like twins With them the parable begins.

Though Peter and Paul get on fine When it’s June and twenty-nine,

To have a shared calendar spot Just once a year, is not a lot.

But here are Peter and our Paul Cannot get on, no, not at all:

A single innocent remark

Will set them blasphemies to bark,

And then to squabble, brawl and quarrel, (Except to kill: that seems immoral!)

When smoke billows from Peter’s chimney Paul will sneeze, and rather grimly;

But now, if Paul’s hen lands perhaps On Peter’s roof, that’s Peter’s proof To fowl will make the house collapse;

Such a trifling cause can trigger Quite a big row which grows bigger As the kinfolk take to arms,

Grandfathers and babes-in-arms;

Curses mix with plucky pledge As they fight along the hedge Joined by they respectives dogs Who will bark the epilogues.

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