Miroslav Holub, 'Napoleon'

[duathir.livejournal.com]

Cross-post from war_poetry:

Napoleon

Children, when was
Napoleon Bonaparte
born?
asks the teacher.

A thousand years ago,
say the children.
A hundred years ago,
say the children.
Nobody knows.

Children, what did
Napoleon Bonaparte
do?
asks the teacher.

He won a war,
say the children.
He lost a war,
say the children.
Nobody knows.

Our butcher used to have a dog,
says Frankie,
and his name was Napoleon,
and the butcher used to beat him,
and the dog died
of hunger
a year ago.

And now all the children feel sorry
for Napoleon.

by Miroslav Holub; Czechoslovakia
Translated by Kaca Polackova

[Napoleon Bonaparte was born August 15, 1769]