This poem is taken from PN Review 197, Volume 37 Number 3, January - February 2011.
Five Poems (translated by Marco Sonzogni and Harry Thomas)
The Dromedary
So many disputes, lawsuits, and wars – what for?
You should try to imitate me.
No water? I do without it,
Careful only not to waste my breath.
No food? I dip into my hump.
When the time is propitious
Grow one yourselves.
And if the hump is flabby
All I need is weeds and straw.
Green grass is lechery and vanity.
Is my voice ugly? Usually I’m silent,
And if I bellow, nobody hears me.
Am I ugly? I’m pleasing to my female,
Who has an eye for quality
And gives the best milk ever.
As for yours, ask her to do the same.
...
So many disputes, lawsuits, and wars – what for?
You should try to imitate me.
No water? I do without it,
Careful only not to waste my breath.
No food? I dip into my hump.
When the time is propitious
Grow one yourselves.
And if the hump is flabby
All I need is weeds and straw.
Green grass is lechery and vanity.
Is my voice ugly? Usually I’m silent,
And if I bellow, nobody hears me.
Am I ugly? I’m pleasing to my female,
Who has an eye for quality
And gives the best milk ever.
As for yours, ask her to do the same.
...
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