the wolf and the lamb

Fable by Jean de La Fontaine

Translation by Ruth Salles

Feeling thirsty, it was a lamb
drink pure water from a stream.
But a hungry wolf
He also began to drink beside him.

 To the lamb he looked, looked
and then, soon, he shouted:
“How dare you soil
this water I'm drinking?"
The lamb replied:
“You must not be angry,
for he drinks near the spring,
and I drink more downstream.
Even though I'm on your side,
your water I cannot have soiled.”
And the wolf growled, baring his teeth:
“But dirty! And it was last year, yeah,
that you spoke ill of me.”
And the lamb said, replying:
“This could not have happened,
because last year I wasn't even born.
In my mother I am still breastfeeding.”
And the wolf, furious: “So it was your brother,
either it was your shepherd, or it was your dog.
And it is on you that I will take revenge.”
And he killed the lamb for his supper.

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