Ohhh, Juicy

I already posted this on C. P., but I had to bring it over here too, as it will delight the multiloquent soul.

The sycophantic Fox and the gullible Raven

By Guy Wetmore Carryl

A raven sat upon a tree,
    And not a word he spoke, for
His beak contained a piece of Brie.
    Or, maybe it was Roquefort.
We'll make it any kind you please --
At all events it was a cheese.

Beneath the tree's umbrageous limb
    A hungry fox sat smiling;
He saw the raven watching him,
    And spoke in words beguiling:
"J'admire," said he, "ton beau plumage!"
(The which was simply persiflage.)

Two things there are, no doubt you know,
    To which a fox is used:
A rooster that is bound to crow,
    A crow that's bound to roost;
And whichsoever he espies
He tells the most unblushing lies.

"Sweet fowl," he said, "I understand
    You're more than merely natty;
I hear you sing to beat the band
    And Adelina Patti.
Pray render with your liquid tongue
A bit from Gotterdammerung."

This subtle speech was aimed to please
    The crow, and it succeeded;
He thought no bird in all the trees
    Could sing as well as he did.
In flattery completely doused,
He gave the "Jewel Song" from Faust.

But gravitation's law, of course,
    As Isaac Newton showed it,
Exerted on the cheese its force,
    And elsewhere soon bestowed it.
In fact, there is no need to tell
What happened when to earth it fell.

I blush to add that when the bird
    Took in the situation
He said one brief, emphatic word,
    Unfit for publication.
The fox was greatly startled, but
He only sighed and answered, "Tut."

The Moral is: A fox is bound
    To be a shameless sinner.
And also: When the cheese comes round
    You know it's after dinner.
But (what is only known to few)
The fox is after dinner, too.

Some Words that Came up in Latin Class Last Week

nascent

coalesced

fasces

internecine

A European Geography Tangent

I'm reading a book about a priest who helped the starving peoples of Europe after World War II. I got a little distracted with the numerous place names I was unfamiliar with. Here's the list from just one page, plus a few that came up in my digging through an atlas to find them. See if you can find where these are...

Bukowina (or Bucovina)
Bessarabia
Bachka (I have to admit I haven't found this one yet)\
Silesia
Ermland (haven't found this one either)
Pomerania
Sudetenland
Potsdam
Galicia
Carpathian Mountains

Have fun!