A Drop of Honey

A merchant in his village
Dealt in all kinds of goods.

One day, from a neighboring village,
A shepherd—a tall, sturdy lad—
Came to him with a dog.
"Greetings," he said, "merchant!
If you have honey, sell it,
If not, farewell."

"I have, I have, dear shepherd!
Do you have a pot? Bring it!
Here's the honey: point to what you want,
I'll weigh it out and sell it to you in no time."

Everything went smoothly,
Word for word—still about the honey.
The honey was weighed, but like a diamond,
A drop spilled onto the ground.

Buzz... a fly. Sensing the sweet honey,
It buzzes, hums, and clings to the drop.
The master's cat sneaks sideways,
Stalking the fly. Then,
In one leap,
It pounces on the fly—snap!

And at that very moment, the shepherd's dog
Bared its teeth and wrinkled its nose.
It lunged, howled
With all its might,
Pinned the cat down,
Grabbed it by the throat.
Squeezed, bit—
And tossed it aside.

"It killed it! It killed it! Oh, my poor cat!
Oh, may you die, you mangy dog!"

Enraged, the merchant grabbed whatever was at hand
And began to beat the dog.
The dog yelped—and in a heap
Fell with the unfortunate cat.

"My lion is gone, gone forever!
My provider, my friend!.. Oh, merchant,
You scoundrel, thief, you so-and-so!..
May your wretched house collapse!..
You dared to beat my dog—
Now taste how I beat!"

Our shepherd roared, raised
A heavy club with a flint
Over the merchant—and in an instant, the cruel master
Fell with a shattered skull.

"Murder!.. Who's there?.. Help!.."
Noise and commotion spread through all the quarters,
People gathered, shouting:
"Help! Murder! He's dead!"

From the upper streets, from the lower ones,
From the road, from the pastures, from the workshops,
Shouting, cursing,
Wailing, moaning,
Father and mother,
Sister and brother-in-law,
Wife and brother,
And godfather, and matchmaker,
And all uncles,
And all friends,
And father-in-law with mother-in-law,
And who knows who else—
They ran, ran, ran, ran,
And beat with whatever they could:

"Oh, you villain! Oh, you rascal!
How could you? How dare you?
What did you come for: to buy goods,
Or to destroy a soul for nothing?"

And next to his dog in the corner,
The shepherd lay sprawled on the floor.

"Well, they stood up for the merchant.
Take the dead man, whoever wants him!"

And soon, to the nearby village,
The sorrowful news arrived.

"Hey, is anyone there?
Can it be borne?
Our shepherd has been killed!.."

Sometimes a mischief-maker stirs
A hornet's nest and walks away.
Isn't that exactly what
That fly did?
Confusion, noise, and chaos...
They grabbed whatever was at hand in haste.
Some with guns,
Some with pitchforks, some with knives,
With shovels, sticks, axes,
Some with spades, some with skewers,
One lost his hat in the rush,
Another threw a saddle on a horse—
And all headed to the enemy village.

"What a shameless people!
No fear, no shame restrains them,
You wander in to buy goods—
They pounce—and stab you in the back.
Ugh, damn them! May they perish,
Fierce murderers, savages!
Let's go, beat them,
Burn them, wipe them out!
Hey, don't dawdle, forward!"

And the people rose against the people.
And each struck, and struck, and struck,
Chopped, slashed, and smashed.
And the more each one struck,
The more enraged they became.

Neighbor struck neighbor.
Neighbor burned neighbor.
And where one lived—
No trace remained.

But here's the trouble: between these villages
Ran a border dividing the lands,
And each village paid tribute
To its own ruler.

Hearing of this riot,
The king of one country immediately
Issued a thunderous decree:

"Let our loyal people know,
Every son of our common homeland,
Worker, soldier, nobleman,
Our council,
And the whole world,
That a daring, treacherous enemy,
Forgetting honor and the fear of God,
Has lulled us with vile flattery,
Entered our flourishing realm,
And subjected our peaceful citizens
To iron and fire.

The blood of victims from the poor village
Has flowed to the foot of the throne,
And bitter as it is for us—
We have ordered our troops
To enter the enemy's domain
And avenge the innocent.

And to defeat the insolent,
We have cannons and the Lord on our side."

But the hostile king, in turn,
Gave this order to his troops:

"Before the Lord and all the earth,
We declare: a cunning, evil
Neighbor has trampled divine law
And sowed malice and discord
Between two brotherly peoples.
He was the first to violate
The ancient pact of friendship. Now, rising
For our honor, for good morals,
For the blood of the slain,
For the freedom of our homeland,
By the authority granted to us,
Calling on the Lord's help,
We raise our victorious sword
And wrath over the enemy's head."

And a cruel war began.
The whole country burned in flames,
Noise, thunder, blood, and screams, and groans,
And weeping, and sorrow from all sides,
And in the breath of the winds
Streamed the stench of the dead.

And so it went,
Year after year:
Looms fell silent,
Crops went unharvested,
The fire of war spread wider,
Famine followed by plague.
It mercilessly mowed people down,
And soon the entire land was desolate.

And in horror among the graves,
The living asked the living:
"Why, where, and when
Did such a calamity strike?"

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A Drop of Honey

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