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author  [first name] title language publication id code last modification view
Christian Morgenstern * Der Werwolf German Arg-1652-825 2013-02-11 18:44 Manfred only this add
Hans Eiseneck El Hechicero hispana Arg-1656-825 2013-02-13 18:46 Manfred only this add
Bertilo Wennergren La lupfantomo Esperanto Arg-1653-825 2013-02-14 23:29 Manfred only this add
R. Platteau Le loup-garou French Arg-1655-825 2013-02-13 21:56 Manfred only this add
Max Knight The Banshee (An Approach) English Arg-1660-825 2013-02-13 22:36 Manfred only this add
Alexander Gross The Werewolf English Arg-1657-825 2013-02-13 18:39 Manfred only this remove
Sven Collberg Varulven Swedish Arg-1654-825 2013-02-13 17:00 Manfred only this add

Christian Morgenstern,
The Werewolf

 
translated by Alexander Gross
 
A Werewolf, troubled by his name,
Left wife and brood one night and came
To a hidden graveyard to enlist
The aid of a long-dead philologist.
 
“Oh sage, wake up, please don’t berate me,”
He howled sadly, “Just conjugate me.”
The seer arose a bit unsteady
Yawned twice, wheezed once, and then was ready.
 
“Well, ‘Werewolf’ is your plural past,
While ‘Waswolf’ is singularly cast:
There’s ‘Amwolf’ too, the present tense,
And ‘Iswolf,’ ‘Arewolf’ in this same sense.”
 
“I know that--I’m no mental cripple--
The future form and participle
Are what I crave,” the beast replied.
The scholar paused--again he tried:
 
“A ‘Will-be-wolf?’ It’s just too long:
‘Shall-be-wolf?’ ‘Has-been-wolf?’ Utterly wrong!
Such words are wounds beyond all suture--
I’m sorry, but you have no future.”
 
The Werewolf knew better--his sons still slept
At home, and homewards now he crept,
Happy, humble, without apology
For such folly of philology.
 
Translation of the German poem "Der Werwolf"
by Christian Morgenstern (Kristiano
Matenstelo, *1871-05-06 - †1914-03-31)
into English by Alexander Gross.

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http://bertilow.com/literaturo/lupfantomo.html.