Pangur Bán
My Cat
AnonI and Pangur Bán my cat,
Tis a like task we are at:
Hunting mice is his delight,
Hunting words I sit all night.Better far than praise of men
Tis to sit with book and pen;
Pangur bears me no ill will,
He too plies his simple skill.Tis a merry thing to see
At our tasks how glad are we,
When at home we sit and find
Entertainment to our mind.Oftentimes a mouse will stray
In the hero Pangur's way;
Oftentimes my keen thought set
Takes a meaning in its net.'Gainst the wall he sets his eye
Full and fierce and sharp and sly;
'Gainst the wall of knowledge I
All my little wisdom try.When a mouse darts from its den
O how glad is Pangur then!
O what gladness do I prove
When I solve the doubts I love!So in peace our tasks we ply,
Pangur Bán, my cat, and I;
In our arts we find our bliss,
I have mine and he has his.Practice every day has made
Pangur perfect in his trade;
I get wisdom day and night
Turning darkness into light.--- Inscribed 1200 years ago in the margins of
a manuscript of Virgil by an anonymous monk
at St. Paul's Monastery,
Lake Constance (Bodensee)
Pangur BánMesse ocus Pangur Bán,
cechtar nathar fria saindan:
b’th a menmasam fri seilgg,
mu memna céin im saincheirdd.Caraimse fos (ferr cach clu)
oc mu lebran, leir ingnu;
ni foirmtech frimm Pangur Bán:
caraid cesin a maccdán.O ru biam (scél cen scís)
innar tegdais, ar n-oendís,
taithiunn, dichrichide clius,
ni fris tarddam ar n-áthius.Gnáth, huaraib, ar gressaib gal
glenaid luch inna línsam;
os mé, du-fuit im l’n chéin
dliged ndoraid cu ndronchéill.Fuachaidsem fri frega fál
a rosc, a nglése comlán;
fuachimm chein fri fegi fis
mu rosc reil, cesu imdis.Faelidsem cu ndene dul
hi nglen luch inna gerchrub;
hi tucu cheist ndoraid ndil
os me chene am faelid.Cia beimmi a-min nach ré
ni derban cách a chele:
maith la cechtar nár a dán;
subaigthius a óenurán.He fesin as choimsid dáu
in muid du-ngni cach oenláu;
du thabairt doraid du glé
for mu mud cein am messe.