Snail and Chronoparadox

In the forest, under a layer of damp leaves,
Snail slowly crawled about her business.
She was very tired, but continued on her way,
Wanting to reach the farthest stars in the sky.

And so, on a crooked forest path, she met
Old hunchbacked sage named Chronoparadox.
He was strange but kind keeper of time,
He predicted future because he knew everything.




Free image from Pixabay



"Greetings, Snail! - said Chronoparadox. -
You're slow, but don't upset, that's your essence,
You see the world as no one else sees it,
Your deep wisdom is hidden in prudence,
Your path is important, even though it is so slow."

"Thank you, Chronoparadox! I’m already used to thinking
That my life has no meaning, but you gave me back hope!
Take as a gift the strawberries that I found this morning," -
Snail gave him a large berry and continued on her way.

However, she did not have time to crawl too far,
When a new emotional conversation began from behind:
"Greetings, hare! You're just jumping, but don't upset..."
Chronoparadox further explained to hare his uniqueness,
Then talked about importance of hare in world history.

When hare jumped away, slow Snail heard:
"Greetings, bear! You're huge, but don't upset..."
Heron followed bear, and badger followed heron,
And everyone listened to old Chronoparadox,
And everyone gave him something,
Either apple, or mushroom, or dried fish, or sausage.
While Snail was crawling away from this place,
She heard dozens of conversations and came to conclusion,
That Chronoparadox would not die by his own death.
It's strange, that he didn't understand this himself.
Perhaps this keeper of time wasn't so smart.
Perhaps he was not a keeper of time.



The original text was written by me in Russian. I haven't studied English systematically so the translation may not be ideal. The main work was done by Google Translate, I just corrected obvious absurdities, where I noticed them and where I did not confuse them with brilliant insights.