The crocodile and the sturgeon

On the banks of the Nile one day two beautiful children
were having fun on the wave,
With flat, round, light and sharp pebbles,
The world’s most beautiful ripples.
A crocodile disturbs their fun,
Suddenly, it snatches up one of the kids,
Screaming and disappearing into its deep maw,
The other flees, weeping for his poor companion.
An honest, dignified sturgeon,
Witness to this tragedy,
It goes away in horror, it hides in the depths of the waves;
But soon he hears the guilty amphibian
Whimpering and sobbing:
The monster has remorse,” he says: “O God,
You often avenge the innocent;
Why don’t you save it?

This scoundrel at least mourns his attacks;
It’s the right time, I think,
To preach penance to him:
I’m going to talk to him. Full of sympathy,
Our holy sturgeon man
Towards the crocodile comes:
Weep,” he cried, “weep for your loss;
Surrender your merciless soul
To remorse, which of the gods is the last blessing,
The only mediator between them and the culprit.
Unfortunate, eating a child!
My heart trembled; I can hear yours whimpering…
Yes,” replies the assassin, “I’m crying right now.
Regret at having missed the other.
Such is the remorse of the wicked.