Classic Poem

The calf of a black forest elephant and the well-loved son
of a dark-eyed mountain woman rush together toward a fruit
fallen into the yard from a wood-apple tree growing in the common land
of the city of Vallar with its sweeps of hills and its large,
encircling forts where the arrows are smeared with flesh
and the guarded forests are hard to conquer and Pannan rules,
he whose sword cannot fail. If you want to rescue your poor
and starving family, go there now. Go before
he moves against the enemy and display
your poverty so that you will gain a gift that is the enemy of hunger!