The Warrior Wolf | My father of glorious memory,"

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by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729 - 1781)

Translation © by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947)

Der kriegerische Wolf

Language: German (Deutsch)

Our translations: ENG

"Mein Vater, glorreichen Andenkens," 
sagte ein junger Wolf zu einem Fuchse, 
"das war ein rechter Held! 
Wie fürchterlich hat er sich 
nicht in der ganzen Gegend gemacht!
Er hat über mehr als zweihundert Feinde, 
nach und nach, triumphiert, und ihre schwarze Seelen 
in das Reich des Verderbens gesandt. 
Was Wunder also, dass er endlich 
doch einem unterliegen musste!"

"So würde sich ein Leichenredner ausdrücken," 
sagte der Fuchs, "der trockene Geschichtsschreiber 
aber würde hinzusetzen: die zweihundert Feinde, 
über die er, nach und nach, triumphiert, 
waren Schafe und Esel; und der eine Feind, 
dem er unterlag, war der erste Stier, 
den er sich anzufallen erkühnte."

Text Authorship:

by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729 - 1781), "Der kriegerische Wolf" [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "Der kriegerische Wolf", 2008 [medium voice and piano], from Fünf Fablen, no. 4 [ sung text checked 1 time]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

ENG English (Gary Bachlund) , "The Warrior Wolf", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-03-14
Line count: 17
Word count: 103

The Warrior Wolf

Language: English after the German (Deutsch)

"My father of glorious memory," 
said a young wolf to a fox, 
"he was a true hero! 
How feared did he make himself 
throughout the whole region. 
He triumphed over more than two hundred enemies, 
such as sheep and donkeys; and his black soul was hailed 
in the kingdom of destruction. 
While a wonder, of course sooner or later 
he had to be beaten!" 

"So he crowed about corpses," 
said the fox, "but that braggart 
should've sat down and shut up; 
the two hundred enemies over which he triumphed 
were just sheep and donkeys, 
and there was one enemy that brought him down, 
which was the first bull that he even dared to attack."

Text Authorship:

by Gary Bachlund (b. 1947), "The Warrior Wolf", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

a text in German (Deutsch) by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729 - 1781), "Der kriegerische Wolf"
- Go to the text page.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-03-14
Line count: 17
Word count: 114