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Anton Wildgans:
Agnus cum agnis,
lupus in lupos
[Sei] ein Lamm den Lämmern,
ein Wolf den Wölfen
Den Wahlspruch hab ich mir zurechtgemacht,
So höre, Kind, den Grund und habe seiner acht:
Gut sollst du sein. Dies ist die erste Pflicht.
Allein verschleudre deine Güte nicht!
Scharf sei dein Aug, auf daß es scheiden kann
Den Bösewicht vom wahrhaft rechten Mann.
Für ihn sei ohne Rückhalt all dein Herz,
Doch für den andern sei dein Herz aus Erz.
Wer die Gemeinheit, wo er kann, nicht bricht,
Der ist ein wahrer Freund des Edlen nicht.
Wer nicht im Hasse gegen Böses stark,
Der ist kein Mann, der hat nicht Mut und Mark.
Der Geist, der blind verzeiht, was er begreift,
Zur wahren Güte ist er nicht gereift.
Die wirft vielmehr der Wechsler Tische um
und jagt die Makler aus dem Heiligtum.
Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione,
Christus jagt die Geldwechsler aus dem Tempel
Louvre, Paris
Was das Gemälde mit dem Gedicht zu tun hat? Schlag' nach bei Luther...
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Anton Wildgans:
Agnus cum agnis,
lupus in lupos
[Behave like] a lamb toward lambs,
[but like] a wolf against wolves
That motto I have forged with me to stay:
So hear, my child, the reason and obey:
You shall be good. This is the prime command.
But never waste the charity you spend!
Keep sharp your eye, so that it always can
distinguish thugs from truly righteous men.
The latter give whatever you do feel,
but to the former show a heart of steel.
If you don't fight the wicked where you can,
you cannot count yourself a noble man.
If you don't fiercely hate the evil mind,
you are not of the brave and steadfast kind.
The man, who pardons all he comprehends,
has not yet grown to goodness' real ends:
For real goodness breaks the banker's board
and from the Temple drives the brokers' horde.
(1) The title's translation is my own.
I hope it is correct (in memory of my father, who was a professor of Latin and Greek).
(2) Both title and text are
politically incorrect. Obviously.
(3) But if you don't appreciate the text,
just appreciate its music.
It's more effective, anyway.
(4) And if music isn't your thing, how about the old painting to your left? Incidentally, it illustrates the poem's penultimate and ultimate lines...
(5) No? It has to be verbal? Ok, here is some poetic prose, suitably old, and also referring to (well, explaining if it must) the last stanza...
(6) You think I am but a lamb in wolf's clothing; I am but a petulant ass? Not polite today, eh? But you got a point: Check out the ass!
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