the wages of sin

Ye gentle feast of Whitsuntide was come;

The woods and trees were clad in vernal bloom;

The full-awakened birds, from every tree,

Make the air ring with cheerful melody;

Sweet were the meadows after passing showers;

Brilliant the heaven with light, the earth with flowers.

Noble, the King of Beasts, now holds his Court;

Thither his summoned vassals all resort;

From North and South they troop, from East and West,

Of Birds and Quadrupeds the First and Best.

The Royal will had been proclaimed that all

Of every class should come, both Great and Small,

To grace the pomp of that high festival.

Not one should fail, and yet there did fail One;

Reynard the Fox, the Rogue was seen of none...

--Goethe

To be continued.

Illustration: an English engraving after the design of Wilhelm von Kaulbach (German, 1870-74).

See also "renard le renard" at catboxx.