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UtangarðsmennJames Thurber: The Last Flower | |
The Last Flower in the World During World Peace XII (As people certainly know), Our collapsed civilization has been cruelly reshaped. The whole world was in ruins, No more trees, no more bushes. All the gardens were torn down, All the works of art, destroyed. Men and women, in beaver skins, Had become viler than beasts; Even dogs had lost their hopes And, though used to obedience, Had abandoned their masters. Packs of wicked wolves went To pay visits to poor homesteads Where destitute people lived. No more music, no more books, No more pictures, no more joys, No pleasures, no desires, Only endless desolation, Lives spent in doing nothing... The powers of World War XII Were still there, among the people; They didn't even say why the heck That cursed war had broken out. Boys and girls no longer dreamed Glancing at each other's eyes, But instead they stood there staring: Love had passed from the earth. Once, one fine evening in spring, A girl strolling through the fields Found, while walking, a tiny flower: The last flower in the world. She ran home to tell her folks That the flower was moribund; A boy out there in the pasture Was amazed at this story. So the boy and the girl together Saved the last flower from death. Then, a bee and a hummingbird Came to greet it on a visit. Soon one flower became two, And two flowers became four, And then five, six, seven, eight... And then many, many more. Every tree and every grove Began then to leaf out, The girl with a touch of make-up Was a wonder of the world, And the boy fell deeply in love, Love was on earth again. Children started jumping, laughing, Plump, straight, with a pretty look. The dogs returned to their farms, But this is another story. The resourceful young man Started building a stone house, Buildings stood again in the world, Songs of life were heard again. And then there came fiddlers And magicians, and conjurers, And tailors, and shoemakers, And poets, and artists, Sculptors, inventors, And, of course, soldiers! And then again colonels, Captains, majors, lieutenants, Marshals, brigadiers, generals And saviors of humanity! Down in valleys, up in highlands People spread all over the world, Until the highlanders began To attack the dalesmen. Well, the highlanders longed so strongly For living in much lower places, The saviors had God on their side And drove the people crazy again. Short time passed; very soon A new world war broke out. Everything was destroyed, Nothing survived that doom. Except one boy, Except one girl, Except one flower. | World War XII, as everybody knows, Brought about the collapse of civilization Towns, cities, and villages disappeared from the earth All the groves and forests were destroyed And all the gardens And all the works of art Men, women, and children became lower than the lower animals Discouraged and disillusioned, dogs deserted their fallen masters Emboldened by the pitiful condition of the former lords of the earth, rabbits descended upon them Books, paintings, and music disappeared from the earth, and human beings just sat around, doing nothing Years and years went by Even the few generals who were left forgot what the last war had decided Boys and girls grew up to stare at each other blankly, for love had passed from the earth One day a young girl who had never seen a flower chanced to come upon the last one in the world She told the other human beings that the last flower was dying The only one who paid any attention to her was a young man she found wandering about Together the young man and the girl nurtured the flower and it began to live again One day a bee visited the flower, and a hummingbird, Before long there were two flowers, and then four, and then a great many Groves and forests flourished again The young girl began to take an interest in how she looked The young man discovered that touching the girl was pleasurable Love was reborn into the world Their children grew up strong and healthy and learned to laugh and run Dogs came out of their exile The young man discovered, by putting one stone upon another, how to build a shelter Pretty soon everybody was building shelters Towns, cities, and villages sprang up Song came back ino the world And troubadours and jugglers And tailors and cobblers And painters and poets And sculptors and wheelwrights And soldiers And lieutenants and captains And generals and major generals And liberators Some people went one place to live, and some another, Before long, those who went to live in the valleys wished they had gone to live in the hills And those who went to live in the hills wished they had gone to live in the valleys The liberators, under the guidance of God, set fire to the discontent So presently the world was at war again This time the destruction was so complete... That nothing at all was left in the world Except one man And one woman And one flower |