Carroll’s original version: The Mouse’s tale
We lived beneath the mat,
Warm and snug and fat,
But one woe, and that
Was the Cat!To our joys a clog,
In our eyes a fog,
On your hearts a log,
Was the Dog!
We lived beneath the mat,
Warm and snug and fat,
But one woe, and that
Was the Cat!To our joys a clog,
In our eyes a fog,
On your hearts a log,
Was the Dog!
When the Cat’s away,
Then the mice will play,
But alas! one day,
(So they say)
Came the Dog and Cat,
hunting for a Rat,
Crushed the mice all flat,
Each one as he sat,
Underneath the mat,
Warm and snug and fat,
Think of that!
The Mouse’s tale (Carroll’s later version)`Fury said to a mouse,
That he met in the house,
“Let us both go to law: I will prosecute YOU.
–Come, I’ll take no denial;
We must have a trial:
For really this morning I’ve nothing to do.”
Said the mouse to the cur,
“Such a trial, dear Sir,
With no jury or judge, would be wasting our breath.”
“I’ll be judge, I’ll be jury,”
Said cunning old Fury:
“I’ll try the whole cause, and condemn you to death.”‘
That he met in the house,
“Let us both go to law: I will prosecute YOU.
–Come, I’ll take no denial;
We must have a trial:
For really this morning I’ve nothing to do.”
Said the mouse to the cur,
“Such a trial, dear Sir,
With no jury or judge, would be wasting our breath.”
“I’ll be judge, I’ll be jury,”
Said cunning old Fury:
“I’ll try the whole cause, and condemn you to death.”‘
Final quatrain modified in Books of Wonder editions.
Said the mouse to the cur. “Such a trial, dear Sir.
With no jury or judge, would be tedious and dry.”
“I’ll be the jury,” said cunning old Fury:
“I’ll try the whole cause, and condemn you to die.”
Juhász Andor fordítása (1929)
Kosztolányi Dezső fordítása (1935)
Szobotka Tibor fordítása (1958)
Varró Dániel fordítása (2009)
Szilágyi Anikó fordítása (2013)
