The Bird-Call Poem by Ignacy Krasicki

(An argosy of fables 1921/Polish fables)

A mimic I knew.
To give him his due.
Was exceeded by none and was equalled by few.⁠

⁠He could bark like a dog;
⁠He could grunt like a hog;
Nay, I really believe, he could croak like a frog.⁠

⁠Then, as for a bird,
⁠You may trust to my word,
'Twas the best imitation that ever you heard.⁠

⁠Yes, it must be confessed
⁠That he copied them best;
You'd have thought he had lived all his life in a nest! ⁠

⁠The Chaffinch's tone
⁠Was completely his own;
Not one of the tribe had the difference known.⁠

⁠The Goldfinch and Thrush
⁠Would often cry, "Hush!
Our brothers are singing in yonder low bush! "⁠

⁠And then what a race
⁠To fly to the place.
Where the cunning rogue cleverly captured the brace! ⁠

⁠But it happened one day
⁠That he came in the way
Of a sportsman, an excellent marksman, they say.⁠

⁠While near a hedge-wall
⁠With his little bird-call
He amused himself mimicking birds, one and all.⁠

⁠And so well did he do it
⁠That many flew to it;
But, alas! he had presently good cause to rue it: ⁠

⁠For it proved sorry fun,
⁠Since the man with the gun,
Who was seeking for Partridges, took him for one.⁠

⁠He was shot in the side;
⁠And he feelingly cried,
A very few minutes before he died: ⁠

⁠"Who for others prepare
⁠A trap, should beware
Lest they sooner or later fall in their own snare."⁠

(From the Polish of Ignace Krasicki.)