Season

 501 Summer|               Then, having cursed and damned his children and his home, ~
 502 Autumn|          boiling pot.~All things that danced and sang beneath the glowing
 503 Autumn|               the beds. ~The twirling dancing ceased; the raucous songs
 504 Autumn|              To the decaying rafters, dangle here and there. ~And when
 505 Autumn|            the mice beneath the straw dared not to budge, ~And many
 506 Spring|                So what of it, if some darn fool works on the run ~And
 507 Spring| blood-curdling sight, ~But managed to dart out from the infernal house; ~
 508 Winter|           Strike them with your sharp darts that paralyze and slay! ~
 509 Summer|           your well-beloved wives~And daughters young and sweet from leading
 510 Winter|              boors; ~And his adviser, Daugkalba, a driveler, ~Oft screeches
 511 Summer|              human life!' ~Indeed, as David wrote, we are but fragile
 512 Summer|              yelled out: ~"Why do you dawdle, boys? The downpour's coming
 513 Winter|        evermore those happy childhood dayst~The falls and winters have
 514 Autumn|               home in a trough nearly dead. ~"His faithful wife, Pime,
 515 Summer|          crops in time? ~But you like deaf have failed to heed my sound
 516 Autumn|       flaunting the Lord's day at the debasing inns? ~Aren't you ashamed
 517 Summer|           against the wind." ~As this debate went on, the watchman showed
 518 Summer|             On whose infernal tongues debauching devils dance. ~Too oft many
 519 Autumn|             old rags and bast ~To the decaying rafters, dangle here and
 520 Autumn|              friend, what later these deceivers did. ~The sly intriguers
 521 Autumn|            And the next day you might decide to take a ride. ~As he lashed
 522 Winter|               judge all, as He has so declared, ~And then He will reward
 523 Spring|         rebells, ~Or when a sullen ox declines to drag the plow. ~You know
 524 Spring|           your breach of God's divine decree,~Unto yourself and us you'
 525 Winter|               He proclaimed His law, ~Decreed that we shall not be greedy,
 526 Winter|               times we dare to take a deeper look.~Therefore, O Father,
 527 Autumn|         tattled offensive tales, ~And deeply shamed the decent girls
 528 Autumn|              Both rich and poor alike defame the chief commune.~Each
 529 Autumn|                 But publicly he would defend and honor me, ~Then though
 530 Summer|            There now," spoke up Jeke, defending women folk, ~"Say, ladies,
 531 Autumn|              packing ugly frogs -~The delicacies that the rich enjoy so much. ~"
 532 Winter|        sitting by the stove you roast delicious meat, ~Then from the rigid
 533 Autumn|              to the forbidden woods, ~Delightfully I give him two large sausages; ~
 534 Winter|              when begot~And painfully delivered, is but a frail sprout;~
 535 Summer|            now the gluttons vomit and demand for veal,~Keep their loud
 536 Summer|               think me rude - ~Like a demented slouch, while sleeping wets
 537 Spring|              the boors like some rare demigod.~But when at times we chance
 538 Spring|          keeps climbing up each day, ~Demoists the soil and goads the grass
 539 Spring|            vast hordes ~Of fiends and demons and the sight of them caused
 540 Winter|             should. ~Pray, why do you denounce our poor Lithuanian boors ~
 541 Winter|            with eyes upon the north, ~Denounced the autumn's mire and longed
 542 Summer|           cannot meet it; so my chief denounces me~And in a beastly rage,
 543 Winter|           chased you into your dreary dens, ~And drove us from the
 544 Autumn|            Base lies will triumph and depravity prevail. ~We witness ev'
 545 Autumn|           Each time he, like a rogue, deprived me of my ax;~But luckily
 546 Winter|               or any wrongful means, ~Deprives Katryne of her broom or
 547 Autumn|             the rich fools would have derided me, ~Or even pulled my hair
 548 Autumn|                And in a greater haste descends beyond the hills. ~The winds,
 549 Spring|            covered them with warm and descent clothes - ~For weaving homespun
 550 Autumn|               many stoups of colorful design.~Ere long the guests drained
 551 Summer|         stubborn pigs, ~Soon I felt a desire to harrow and to plow. ~
 552 Winter|              us our joints and limbs, desires and whims,~And prearranged
 553 Spring|            You scorn the regal robes, despise resplendent gowns; ~You
 554 Winter|        straight for hell. ~While one, despising God, laughs like an idiot, ~
 555 Summer|           this house,~And handled all details of food and cookery;~I've
 556 Winter|        because of carelessness, ~Most devastating damages can bring to us; ~
 557 Autumn|         latter, hopelessly indined to deviltry, ~Prevents his children
 558 Winter|              See that your chimney is devoid of clotted soot,~And keep
 559 Autumn|        earthly wealth ~So that we may devour them like unsated hogs? ~
 560 Summer|               When the rapacious help devours all meats and foods? ~Alas!
 561 Summer|           when it is time to die, ~He dies a swinish death, wallowing
 562 Spring|               pitching of manure, the digging in the soil. ~The First
 563 Autumn|            the table many things that dight the feast, ~And brought
 564 Winter|            Like powdered gentlemen in dignified parade. ~But in their shade,
 565 Autumn|              scoundrels live in their dilapidated shacks. ~One of the twain
 566 Autumn|            parsnips, carrots, squash, dill pickles, radishes, ~Beets,
 567 Autumn|               beclouds the skies ~And dims the sun, the stars, and
 568 Autumn|             learn how nobles talk and dine.~Ere long the chefs had
 569 Autumn|            his men to tap them in the dining room. ~Enskys, his knave,
 570 Autumn|              and you hens, leave your dirt-pile a while; ~Run once again
 571 Autumn|               you look up you see the disarrayed thatch roofs, ~Torn up by
 572 Autumn|             Christ, our Lord, and his disciples all:~That ere doomsday the
 573 Autumn|            how much he saves, ~Nor to disclose the place where he his savings
 574 Autumn|             and drink, fail not to be discreet. ~The year has many days;
 575 Summer|         nostrils of the idle noblemen~Disdain your messy work, and your
 576 Winter|              condemned Docys and spat disgustedly. ~But that was not the end:
 577 Winter|              frauds and thefts of the dishonest boors. ~"O just and holy
 578 Winter|             and grieved and whimpered dismally,~One of his knaves returned
 579 Spring|      never-ending grief and sorrowful dismay.~Since then each year arrive
 580 Autumn|               for then he laughs ~And disobeys me, his kind-hearted chief
 581 Autumn|           whispered low, then given a dispatch ~To carry back with me,
 582 Autumn|           arrogance, ~And hum as they dispel the last of summer's warmth. ~
 583 Spring|           Take Diksas, that sluggard, displaying city airs;~Attired in foppish
 584 Summer|           convey ~To Karaliaucius and dispose of them for cash, ~Wherewith
 585 Autumn|            them get into most asinine disputes; ~Blind drunk, they seize
 586 Autumn|             errant lords ~Leave their dissolute servants to transgress and
 587 Autumn|         before an idle lord. ~But God distinctly marked to ev'ry man his
 588 Autumn|             food supplies, and then, ~Distressed, he shoves a coin into some
 589 Winter|               trees and stumps become disturbed, ~As the north wind his
 590 Autumn|              communion rail ~Had been divinely blest and joined forevermore. ~
 591 Autumn|              Why do you mutilate poor dobbin's flanks with spurs?~Ride
 592 Autumn|          slashed back. ~Where two old dobbins once could drag a heavy
 593 Summer|             aches and pains require a doctor's aid. ~Why do these countless
 594 Autumn|               it fell to me to take a document ~Prom a high lord to a most
 595 Autumn|            was but a trifling thing: ~Dodys and his six men, while threshing
 596 Autumn|              that, when all the daily doings have been done, ~Himself,
 597 Spring|            when she laid to sleep her doll in a dark cave?~And, Lord
 598 Summer|               hiring help would add a dollar more -~And how the help
 599 Spring|             very hell ~And its entire domain began to steam and quake. ~
 600 Autumn|            shake with cold. ~For each domestic beast, when bitter winter
 601 Winter|             head, ~And like a tyrant, doomed the autumn's messy work; ~
 602 Autumn|               disciples all:~That ere doomsday the world will be in great
 603 Winter|            you miss your fresh meat? ~Doubtless your empty bellies ache
 604 Autumn|             ugly mire as a fermenting dough. ~O what became of those
 605 Spring|            And rolling carriages, the downfall of the rich, ~Think that
 606 Summer|              do you dawdle, boys? The downpour's coming on, ~And columns
 607 Autumn|              vilifies the schools and downs the teachers, too, ~Because
 608 Winter|            almost anyone may harm the downtrod boor, ~And push him here
 609 Autumn|               among the lords and the downtrodden boors ~Base lies will triumph
 610 Winter|              to shoot down at least a dozen crows. ~Durakas, a dull
 611 Autumn|             twigs. ~But lusk Docys is dozing by the flaming stove ~And
 612 Summer|            not only from under an old drab frock - ~From under a silk
 613 Summer|               hurry, boys, the day is drawing to a close; ~Tomorrow we
 614 Autumn|          rolls out into the light~And dreaming in the crib calls for his
 615 Summer|             when you fell asleep, you dreamt about our woes. ~Thus, striving
 616 Summer|         passed sleepless nights, ~And drenched my pillow with an endless
 617 Summer|               torch ablaze, ~Each day dries up the wreaths and garlands
 618 Winter|           summer joys, ~There now the drifting snow makes ranges of white
 619 Winter|             his adviser, Daugkalba, a driveler, ~Oft screeches like a cockerel
 620 Summer|            And usher in the rains and drizzles of the fall; ~And yet the
 621 Autumn|            That they are told as just droll stories on ourselves. ~Nay,
 622 Autumn|            that e'en their pipes they dropped. ~And the musicians, too,
 623 Summer|                and fit for naught but dross. ~But then these harvesters
 624 Spring|            toils, ~Because of lengthy droughts, must gnaw a molded crust, ~
 625 Spring|               if someone were hurt or drowning in a lake, ~"Help, help!
 626 Summer|                when Katre is spinning drowsily, ~A cracking of a nut awakens
 627 Autumn|          shake and sway;~The worn and drowsy guests became so terrified,~
 628 Spring|              solemnity, ~Only through drudgery could seethe their dinner
 629 Autumn|            magic herbs and exorcising drugs, ~Then having smashed so
 630 Winter|            wheels resound like kettle drums, ~And pound the human ear
 631 Autumn|            and of but holy things. ~A drunkard even among them, when temulent, ~
 632 Autumn|                and chicken, goose and duck; ~Large hams, thick sausages,
 633 Autumn|              As contributions, sundry dues and excise tax. ~And so
 634 Winter|              dozen crows. ~Durakas, a dull boy, obeying his blunt boss, ~
 635 Spring|              not satisfied to be just duly drest, ~But wishes to enjoy
 636 Autumn|             of God. ~Blind lords, who dumbly play into the devil's hands, ~
 637 Autumn|            oozing chunks of meats~And dumped them in the plates of the
 638 Winter|             you make fire to cook the dumplings or mixed mass, ~Or sitting
 639 Winter|               bread. ~"For even oxen, dun, motely, black, white and
 640 Spring|            but a young pig left? ~You dunce, if you but make your daily
 641 Winter|                gor-bellied, bristling dunderhead,~Who like a lightning bolt
 642 Summer|          boors,~And as he smirks, the dupe, derides their fetid work -~
 643       | during
 644 Summer|          sweats each day from dawn to dusk, ~Subsists from day to day
 645 Winter|            glowing fire~To place your dusky pots within the blazing
 646 Autumn|              herbs and roots,~Admixed Dutch myrtle leaves and Polish
 647 Winter|            chief commune should, ~Now dwell on vital things in just
 648 Spring|          heaps of high-piled snow had dwindled down to naught. ~Each day
 649 Winter|              And sped away with other eager chiefs commune~To cart to
 650 Winter|           drums, ~And pound the human ear many a league away. ~So
 651 Spring|               high regard when in the early spring ~You strike your
 652 Autumn|              You see, my friends, how easily a brawl can start, ~When
 653 Winter|         recently expir'd,~Right after Easter we began to plow the fields,~
 654 Autumn|          forceful and angry winds~Are eastward moving with ferocious, headlong
 655 Autumn|                 And one of them while eating even mentioned dung. ~As
 656 Autumn|            Began to draw and pour the effervescent brew; ~Of course, fermented
 657 Spring|          proudly sit among the German egotists, ~And even the sleek French
 658 Autumn|          surely, after that, when the eighth day appeared,~The neighborhood
 659 Winter|           arraigned. ~After five days elapsed the justices convened ~And
 660 Spring|         clouts, ~And leaning on their elbows worship bastard babes. ~
 661 Winter|            more. ~The autumn, like an elephant asplashing mire ~And rolling
 662 Winter|           sinfully the fast-vanishing elk;~And then the scoundrels
 663 Autumn|           falls such a remorse. ~This elk-horn-handled knife, forged on an anvil
 664 Autumn|              cubs - ~There, where the elks were chased by the repacious
 665 Summer|               tale let down, ~And the elusive hare, with his long ears
 666 Autumn|            bast-shod boors, ~Exhalted emperor, as his betattered thralls, ~
 667 Summer|              evermore. ~But since the employees have learned the latest
 668 Spring|              were at an end, ~And the enchanting spring wrought wonders ev'
 669 Winter|          charms,~At once the miseries encircle and torment.~We all recall
 670 Autumn|              wolves, ~Because of this encounter, ended all at once. ~The
 671 Winter|            not the first year that we endure hard times,~And 'tis not
 672 Autumn|               animal?~Has not he long endured the feudal cruelties?~Why
 673 Summer|           Observing such events at my enfeebled age, ~At times I sigh with
 674 Summer|              Of late the rugged boors engage in these things too.~Some
 675 Winter|          Karaliaucius, too, was twice engulfed by fire; ~It was because
 676 Autumn|                 How the infernal tide engulfs us from all sides, ~And
 677 Winter|          streets,~And, just like you, enjoyed our happy summer days.~And
 678 Autumn|           done, ~Himself, or even his enlightened family, ~May read the Word
 679 Spring|              before we rise,~Her song enlivens us and gladdens our sad
 680 Summer|              cold winter comes? ~With enmpty mouths we will perform our
 681 Summer|          store up high stacks for the ensuing year. ~And 'tis a timely
 682 Autumn|           that only Swiss and French ~Entangle human souls with their outlandish
 683 Autumn|            entertained! ~How dare you enter here where you are wanted
 684 Winter|            their wrongs and sins make entertaining fun. ~One rascal brags of
 685 Winter|               how the winter's breath enthralls the barren fields, ~How
 686 Autumn|             of curling worms from the entrails; ~The third, with two ungainly
 687 Summer|               old bachelor woodcarver envied me, ~And even ran from me
 688 Summer|         sleeps at ease. ~He needs not envy him who wears expensive
 689 Winter|            Protagonist,~Who countless eons ere we mortals learned to
 690 Summer|               little life. ~Thus like ephemeral blossoms, we come and go. ~"
 691 Autumn|             useless sots, you godless epicures! ~Are you ashamed to lift
 692 Winter|            animals.~Why does the king equip you with a blunderbuss?~
 693 Autumn|             by cards and comedies the errant lords ~Leave their dissolute
 694 Spring|              mankind, ~And no one can escape the troubles of this world. ~"
 695 Autumn|             One chicken and one goose escaped his deadly knife. ~Hams,
 696 Summer|           revered him and held him in esteem. ~Many a lordling, when
 697 Spring|             then all by herself sings eulogies to God.~Oft at the very
 698 Spring|              And set aside a plot for ever-needed hemp; ~Skimp not on land
 699 Spring|                too, a goodly patch of ever-useful peas, ~For peas do taste
 700 Summer|              I could never please the everhungry help.~My thrift increases
 701 Summer|         serfdom's regretful lot, ~How everyday boors must bend their breaking
 702 Autumn|               eyes: ~One sluggard was eviscerating a black hawk; ~Another,
 703 Summer|             bud, ~From which ere long evolves a blossom sweet and fair, ~
 704 Winter|        Serenely takes the shape of an evolving bud.~Yet not in one day'
 705 Winter|           These deadly beasts ~Snatch ewes at the wood's edge and there
 706 Summer|               his rusty sword like an exalted knight, ~And shouts with
 707       | Except
 708 Summer|             around ~And drink to such excess, that e'en the rustics blush; ~
 709 Autumn|        contributions, sundry dues and excise tax. ~And so you see, the
 710 Spring|            know how bad it is when an excited boss, ~Baring his gnashing
 711 Spring|        running fast. ~'Say, Gryta,' I exclaimed, 'What's wrong? Why do you
 712 Winter|             mortals learned to think,~Excogitated when and where we would
 713 Summer|        fertilize the soil with proper excrement. ~Your own pot, when you
 714 Autumn|               condemn the priests and execrate their deeds." ~Of course,
 715 Autumn|             we, the bast-shod boors, ~Exhalted emperor, as his betattered
 716 Autumn|             knowing what to do in the exigency - ~Until enraged Enskys
 717 Autumn|             all their magic herbs and exorcising drugs, ~Then having smashed
 718 Summer|                You know a boor, if he expects to have good crops, ~Must
 719 Spring|               nostrils, bellows-like, expelling clouds of steam, ~And tongue
 720 Summer|          needs not envy him who wears expensive clothes, ~But ill at ease
 721 Spring|               your Eve and you had no experience,~And knew not how the dolls
 722 Winter|             in the year that recently expir'd,~Right after Easter we
 723 Winter|               last, the shades of the expiring year,~And all its miseries
 724 Winter|         Durakas, too, was hurt by the exploding gun. ~When this calamity -
 725 Winter|                For ye, O noble lords, exploit us boors so much, ~That
 726 Autumn|            indecent tales, ~Yea, with expressions never heard inside the church, ~
 727 Winter|             of this old squire was so extreme,~That if at times he gave
 728 Spring|              the bat inquired of him,~Eyeing the drunken lord and scorning
 729 Winter|             summer days,~From our hot faces lots of sweat we wiped away, ~
 730 Autumn|            days stay briefly and then fade. ~And now the sluicy mud,
 731 Autumn|               And went to church more faihfully on holy days. ~But nowadys,
 732 Spring|           times a peasant passing by ~Fails to see the bright sword
 733 Summer|              man's hellish rage, grew faint and swooned, ~And many unnerved
 734 Winter|             so much terrified, ~A few faint-hearted souls fell off their wooden
 735 Autumn|               nay, not a lord - but a fair-minded boor. ~His house is simple,
 736 Winter|             according to the law ~And fairly tried to fix his innocence
 737 Winter|          surely you must know that no fairminded king~Forbids you to kill
 738 Winter|          shall not be greedy, vile or false, ~And He permits us not
 739 Autumn|          ashamed of them, nor of them falsely spake. ~But now, Lord pity
 740 Autumn|             sink so low, they lie and falsify like Jews. ~"Now in the
 741 Winter|              praised by all, ~And how famed visitors from many distant
 742 Autumn|            know boors at times invent fantastic tales, ~And all the more
 743 Summer|            shiny shoes, ~And too, the farmerettes, like fashionable dames, ~
 744 Spring|             not be ashamed of irksome farming work: ~The pitching of manure,
 745 Winter|             smart and to retain their farms. ~E'en though the Germans
 746 Autumn|            often his wife, too, takes fascicles of flax, ~Then sells them
 747 Summer|            too, the farmerettes, like fashionable dames, ~Dress up in stylish
 748 Winter|                slaughter sinfully the fast-vanishing elk;~And then the scoundrels
 749 Autumn|               hymns and pious psalms, fasts, offerings and prayers - ~
 750 Autumn|        disgrace and shame to our dear fatherland. ~O ye, Lithuanians, my
 751 Summer|             came here to give you our fatherly advice. ~Almighty God, who
 752 Autumn|             our Lithuanian folk: ~Our fathers and forefathers did not
 753 Autumn|               Paikzentis slaughters a fattened full-grown ram. ~And Vauskus,
 754 Spring|         having caught and gorged some fatter frogs and toads ~Together
 755 Spring|            gleaming blade against his fatty throat. ~By now the bat'
 756 Spring|             are short of food. ~Whose fault is it that when the summer
 757 Winter|          think we'd better change our faulty deeds and ways.~Yea, let
 758 Spring|             his father, Stepas, never favored haste. ~My father many times,
 759 Autumn|              did not smoke; ~Some men feared trouble so that e'en their
 760 Winter|               just and holy God, what fearful times have come! ~What blindness
 761 Winter|               red, and of every hue; ~Fearless, unhesitant, they leap upon
 762 Summer|               and like Cain, each day fears Heaven's wrath? ~And what
 763 Autumn|             to the rich and tucked in feather beds,~Or born a lowly boor
 764 Summer|        childhood tears, ~And show but feeble bud of our unfolding age. ~
 765 Summer|              lousy knave, e'en if you feign to hire him, ~Has nerve
 766 Winter|             themselves and hurt their fellow men. ~Did not our gentle
 767 Winter|                 And cause your honest fellow-serfs to feel ashamed. ~"Well,
 768 Autumn|        effervescent brew; ~Of course, fermented beer bemoistens dry palate ~
 769 Autumn|              kneed the ugly mire as a fermenting dough. ~O what became of
 770 Spring|               rusty spade and dig the fertile soil. ~Look how the moldwarps
 771 Summer|             to have good crops, ~Must fertilize the soil with proper excrement. ~
 772 Autumn|             firewood pile; ~Enskys is fetching home an armful of dry twigs. ~
 773 Summer|               the dupe, derides their fetid work -~As if without the
 774 Summer|            therewith their uproar and feud he pacified. ~But as he
 775 Spring|             much undone, ~So that his fibered wings lacked energy to stir. ~
 776 Spring|            their lax hands forget the fibre must be pulled,~And their
 777 Winter|            into the midnight's hush. ~Fie ye, rapacious beasts, do
 778 Summer|             the more and acted like a fiend, ~That e'ven the flocks
 779 Spring|          called forth vast hordes ~Of fiends and demons and the sight
 780 Winter|                 Look yon! What great, fierce fangs the beast of winter
 781 Autumn|            out, played his old wooden fife. ~Enskys now called upon
 782 Summer|           befell poor me: ~For almost fifty years I have maintained
 783 Spring|            but a sheaf of straw, ~And finally would sell you to a butcher
 784 Winter|              you are drunk - cannot a finger move, ~Nor of your solemn
 785 Spring|        protruding chin, ~And with his fingernails he clawed his bloated face. ~
 786 Summer|           Albas in a new, just lately finished cart,~Merciukas, with a
 787 Autumn|              and Gryta search for the fire-giving flint, ~And Salomeja scalds
 788 Winter|               chips heaped up on your fireplace,~Nor pile on it dry wood
 789 Autumn|           Maguze and Jeke work on the firewood pile; ~Enskys is fetching
 790 Summer|             lift your eyes toward the firmament ~Each morning, noon and
 791 Spring|             thinking at the time~Your first-born babe began to cry and search
 792 Summer|            tax, ~Is able to pay it in fistfuls of cold cash. ~"Your master
 793 Winter|           squintingly,~"That 'tis not fitting for the boors to cheat and
 794 Winter|              law ~And fairly tried to fix his innocence or guilt; ~
 795 Winter|              of dark birds. ~Seeing a flabby crow perched high on the
 796 Autumn|            that,~Nor yet why with his flail he beats the crops so hard.~
 797 Autumn|              Were striking with their flails the pea vines with such
 798 Winter|            arrogant Frenchmen, and ye flamboyant Swiss, ~And all ye who come
 799 Winter|              more words. ~The blazing flame of fire that brightens up
 800 Winter|         Become mere beggers, when the flames consume their homes? ~And
 801 Summer|             Many a lily white, many a flamming rose, ~Has lost its maiden
 802 Summer|             hazel nuts stuck in their flapping mouths ~At once would stop
 803 Autumn|              me alone, you snot! I'll flatten out your ears! ~Have you
 804 Autumn|            smooth Germanic and French flattery;~But in a rustic way, as
 805 Autumn|           hell will swallow you, ~For flaunting the Lord's day at the debasing
 806 Spring|            bugs, mosquitos, gnats and fleas. ~In ever growing swarms
 807 Summer|       disappeared. ~But as the winter fled, the smiling springtime
 808 Summer|              and fair, ~Which blows a fleeting while, then casts away its
 809 Autumn|             honor me, ~Then though my flesh would ache, my soul would
 810 Winter|              noblemen, ~And hold your flippant tongue from slipping in
 811 Autumn|            fat atop the boiling water floats; ~While the exhausted boor,
 812 Autumn|              of soil remain above the flooded land, ~As the relentless
 813 Autumn|            But lo! The sorry lot just flopped down in the chairs; ~Without
 814 Autumn|            That malevolent deeds will flourish ev'rywhere - ~And that among
 815 Spring|               its fruitfulness; ~Each flower and each leaf sends forth
 816 Autumn|             springtime days, ~When we flung all our doors and windows
 817 Summer|        ashamed - ~Do you not blush or flush - when zealous German wives, ~
 818 Spring|               others He gave wings to flutter in the air. ~Some living
 819 Spring|               Afifing merry tunes and flying far and wide; ~Secluded
 820 Autumn|             up the stomach with thick foam of malt. ~Alas, the wedding
 821 Summer|               given us much bread and fodder for our kine. ~You all recall
 822 Winter|         friends and does not harm his foes.~Forgetful of himself, he
 823 Autumn|          cured, ~And reason should be followed when the meats are used. ~
 824 Summer|              full bloom -~One, like a fondling vain, brought up in luxury, ~
 825 Winter|            One rascal brags of how he fooled the forester, ~Another boasts
 826 Spring|      displaying city airs;~Attired in foppish clothes, he treads the village
 827 Summer|               But mark how soon those fops would bend low before you,~
 828 Winter|               that no fairminded king~Forbids you to kill these bloodthirsty
 829 Autumn|                From the glowing west, forceful and angry winds~Are eastward
 830 Autumn|     Lithuanian folk: ~Our fathers and forefathers did not care for them; ~
 831 Winter|               any day at noon, ~If we foresake our God, as some bad Germans
 832 Winter|              not know and thus cannot foretell. ~"And e'en the frozen fields,
 833 Summer|            feudal serfs you charged, ~Forewarned them not to loaf, but to
 834 Autumn|               elk-horn-handled knife, forged on an anvil cold, ~You see
 835 Winter|               does not harm his foes.~Forgetful of himself, he thinks first
 836 Autumn|              good Lithuanian style - ~Forgetting woes and cares, we will
 837 Summer|              come along and take your fork in hand, ~And start to dig
 838 Autumn|             used not their knives and forks, ~But took chunks in their
 839 Winter|           life.~We sinful orphans, we forlorn and wretched souls,~We never
 840 Winter|             ponds translucent windows form, ~Like shining mirrors fashioned
 841 Winter|               And keep still when his forman boxes your lop ears. ~For
 842       | former
 843 Spring|            food.~Why did you run away forsaking his young pigs?~Did not
 844 Winter|         summer will give us, we can't forsee,~But Thou already knowest
 845 Spring|           cries. ~So I, lamenting and forseeing joyless days, ~I say to
 846 Autumn|               men. ~Many a decent man forsook his happy home ~And in the
 847 Summer|              exhausted nag, ~And in a fortnight reached his home on foot,
 848 Autumn|                Like vicious dogs they fought, and in their blood and
 849 Summer|            shocked. ~And even the sly fox, with bushy tale let down, ~
 850 Autumn|           eyes,~While others suffered fractures of their arms and legs.~
 851 Summer|               David wrote, we are but fragile things; ~Like flowers of
 852 Spring|               with the village kids; ~Fraternally they play together in the
 853 Autumn|              coutrymen, ~Prays do not fraternize with wanton heretics, ~And
 854 Winter|          tavern bench, ~Both laud the frauds and thefts of the dishonest
 855 Summer|             this discourse went on, a frenzied watchman came, ~And jumping
 856 Spring|            peas do taste so good with freshly cooked mixed mass; ~Besides,
 857 Winter|           days have passed ~And we as friendly neighbors had a joyful time, ~
 858 Autumn|               ended all at once. ~The frightened guests just stood and held
 859 Autumn|               grind their knives ~And frightening to hear how loud they bang
 860 Winter|           living thing, scared by the frightful blasts,~Draws into his dark
 861 Winter|              with us no more. ~"O ye, frivolous joys of sunny summer days!~
 862 Spring|              seek,' and scurry to and fro; ~Meanwhile the little girls,
 863 Summer|           only from under an old drab frock - ~From under a silk cloak
 864 Winter|             much, ~We wear our woolen frocks or e'en our sheepskin coats, ~
 865 Winter|            eagle's majesty? ~Or can a frog stand up against the lion'
 866 Winter|          sodden ugliness. ~At once he frosted white and clean the fall'
 867 Autumn|          friend, why do you prate and frown? ~To you, just like to me,
 868 Winter|              and marsh all hard-fixed frowns take on, ~And how the mire
 869 Winter|              foretell. ~"And e'en the frozen fields, which we this summer
 870 Winter|           joyful time, ~Let's be more frugal with our lessening reserves; ~
 871 Autumn|               meats should be handled frugally. ~Good sense is needed in
 872 Summer|             is because they scorn the fruitful work of boors, ~Lead sinful
 873 Autumn|      Paikzentis slaughters a fattened full-grown ram. ~And Vauskus, yonder,
 874 Spring|            autumn days shall bring us fuller meals. ~"Look yon, the happy
 875 Spring|            long and hard repairs were fully done ~The two of them flew
 876 Autumn|             He smelled the witchcraft fumes ~And sensed the sorcery
 877 Winter|            and sins make entertaining fun. ~One rascal brags of how
 878 Spring|             why do you laugh? ~What's funny that the boors must do the
 879 Autumn|               all the while sad tears furrow our care-worn cheeks. ~We
 880 Spring|               had cast away the snowy furs; ~The bush and heath were
 881       | further
 882 Summer|             wages, too, there is much fuss each year. ~A brat who hardly
 883 Autumn|             roof the rotted beams and gables sway, ~And hanging strips
 884 Autumn|           blessed day.~You there, you gaggling geese, and you too, quacking
 885 Spring|            God's eternal will,~I have gained on sweet sleep and rested
 886 Winter|              your bread, will take up gainful work. ~"We, aging dusty
 887 Autumn|          roofs, ~Torn up by storm and gale and twisted by harsh winds, ~
 888 Winter|             fangs agape, ~They kill a gallant bull and a tenacious ox. ~
 889 Summer|         stallion four years old, ~And galloped to announce the hest to
 890 Spring|             and sticks, ~Headforemost galloping through the high-splashing
 891 Summer|          having learned from them the gambling tricks ~But grin when Krizas
 892 Autumn|               spurs?~Ride slowly, you gaper, and do not harm your horse!~
 893 Spring|       murderer ~As that sly thing who gapes to gorge fresh meats: the
 894 Autumn|              In ev'ry nook and corner garbage and manure. ~Those two are
 895 Autumn|            bull, ~While Mikols in the garden singes butchered shoat ~
 896 Spring|             to get on with the spring gardening. ~Indeed, the belly calls
 897 Autumn|         uncheerful dreams. ~Alas, the gardens too, with all their loveliness -~
 898 Summer|              dries up the wreaths and garlands of this earth, ~And turns
 899 Spring|              terrifies us all, ~As he garrotes and kills our lean and luckless
 900 Autumn|          smell, ~That caused Docys to gasp and show a sign of life. ~"
 901 Autumn|               will rush for the black gates of hell.~So warned the patriarchs
 902 Spring|              silken dress and all the gaudy styles. ~Clad in a boorish
 903 Summer|          wonder if you hear a pompous gawk ~Ablabbing stupid words.
 904 Spring|        displayed his voice. ~While he gazed and rejoiced, his sweet
 905 Spring|               feathered throng: ~"Our generation, too, sings praise to the
 906 Summer|               ordered to have made ~A generous supply of nearbeer and homebrew, ~
 907 Winter|            ashamed to boast about his gentleness. ~Take Kasparas - you know
 908 Spring|             shiny eggs, ~And now they gently hum maternal lullabies: ~
 909 Summer|          smallpox ~Or with his typhus germs twirls down the helpless
 910 Spring|               they chatter, smirk and giggle senselessly,~The winter
 911 Winter|             would see the light.~Thou giveth us our joints and limbs,
 912 Winter|         pleasant heat, ~Thank Him for giving you this bright and warming
 913 Spring|              Her song enlivens us and gladdens our sad hearts.~O kind and
 914 Winter|        shining mirrors fashioned by a glazier's hand. ~The pools, where
 915 Spring|               Is wondrous even in the gleeful voice of birds. ~The sparrows
 916 Spring|              when at times we catch a glimpse of your attire, ~Then you
 917 Summer|               his treasure chest ~And gloats as through his hands he
 918 Winter|          terrific glare lights up the gloomy heights, ~It swallows not
 919 Summer|            But man O man, fail not to glorify His name,~Because He with
 920 Spring|          violin and harp,~When you in glory raise your charming voice
 921 Autumn|               hot stove, ~Chef Petras glowed with pride in his supreme
 922 Summer|               Gorge costly caviar and glup imported frogs, ~And then,
 923 Spring|           then, to stuff himself, the glutton, fried the wretch?" ~As
 924 Summer|             horns remain. ~So now the gluttons vomit and demand for veal,~
 925 Spring|             excited boss, ~Baring his gnashing teeth, lets loose his serpent
 926 Spring|            flies and bugs, mosquitos, gnats and fleas. ~In ever growing
 927 Spring|             of lengthy droughts, must gnaw a molded crust, ~And out
 928 Spring|               the songsters fare: one gnaws a slimy worm, ~Another,
 929 Spring|             yet you must beware, when goading him to move, ~That you should
 930 Spring|              his lean pigs and hungry goats,~Agazing through the cracks,
 931 Summer|               worshiped their strange gods,~For then they did not know
 932 Summer|              ev'ry time a feudal lord goes by, ~The boor must bare
 933 Autumn|             brethren, and see what is going on: ~How the infernal tide
 934 Summer|              many girls and boys such goodies oftentimes ~Chew with delight
 935 Winter|                 But you, self-willed, gor-bellied, bristling dunderhead,~Who
 936 Winter|             bloodthirsty brutes,~Like gory butchers, kill scores of
 937 Autumn|             where the raven brought a gosling to his nest, ~Lo, there,
 938 Spring|             chicks will come. ~Bright goslings even now are rolling out
 939 Autumn|                when the loose-tongued gossipers convene, ~Their first rite
 940 Summer|               one is laid up with his gout; ~Another's aches and pains
 941 Winter|            men these days know how to govern men, ~And while so governing
 942 Winter|             govern men, ~And while so governing to cherish man and God." ~"
 943 Spring|            robes, despise resplendent gowns; ~You shun the silken dress
 944 Autumn|             ry gathering -~And always grab more food and drinks than
 945 Autumn|           goodly chunks of meats with graceful ease, ~And even split the
 946 Winter|              casts off its shells~And gracefully unfolds its hidden loveliness.~
 947 Winter|            God pity us, that our most gracious lords, ~Upset by greed for
 948 Summer|              now the pallid ears were grainless and dried up - ~Just bent
 949 Summer|               of nuts. ~Our toothless grannies, too, have no sweet tooth
 950 Winter|            his, wipe your behind?~Who granted you the right to kick the
 951 Summer|            will take. ~I also, if God grants, will go along with you, ~
 952 Spring|       Demoists the soil and goads the grass blades to arise. ~Soon in
 953 Spring|                Eat lady beetles, vain grasshoppers and mean flies; ~Eat ever
 954 Spring|             frogs and toads ~Together gratefully they gave their thanks to
 955 Autumn|             aid to Docys.~Jeke, while grating all those potent herbs and
 956 Spring|               from our cradles to our graves abide with us. ~What can
 957 Autumn|              he was pouring soups and gravies into bowls ~And pulling
 958 Summer|          course, it is not nice for a gray-headed man, ~To be shamed by the
 959 Spring|           vender of the homemade axel grease; ~He, on a squeaky wheel,
 960 Summer|            horses fed and wagon axles greased; ~Bring pitchforks of your
 961 Autumn|              as Krizas came, Kasparas greeted him; ~But Docys walked right
 962 Spring|           tongue protruding, he moves grimly on and on. ~"An ox must
 963 Autumn|               see how sharp the women grind their knives ~And frightening
 964 Spring|              trade. ~The icy season's grip was thouroughly undone, ~
 965 Summer|             urban halls they moan and groan so much, ~That oft they
 966 Autumn|               to pacify the stomach's groans. ~And then the rest breaks,
 967 Autumn|            commune.~Each morning as I groom and saddle my old nag,~I
 968 Autumn|                Then having washed and groomed his horse full well, he
 969 Autumn|           bent their heads~Before the groomsman proud, and told him that
 970 Autumn|              keg of potent beer; ~The groomsmen all at once with pitchers,
 971 Autumn|             church, ~Twist words into grossness and gossip wantonly. ~Some
 972 Autumn|          women sat aside in their own group ~And chatted all about their
 973 Summer|      marketing. ~Within the woods and groves they have picked such a
 974 Summer|             back, ~And a sore stomach growls for an appeasing lunch. ~
 975 Winter|               poor me if I enjoy such grub?~Is it not fair enough that
 976 Spring|               behind you. ~And so, my grumbling friend, be thankful to your
 977 Winter|             how he tricked the forest guard. ~This one, pot-valiant,
 978 Winter|               to fix his innocence or guilt; ~Too, all the witnesses
 979 Winter|               on the stolen food like guilty dogs, ~And cause your honest
 980 Summer|         choking thirst for a reviving gulp, ~But no one offers him
 981 Summer|              and scream, ~When horned hags would draw around my haunted
 982 Spring|             you, with your Eve, while hailing the first spring~And tasting
 983 Spring|             eggs; ~The gander proudly hails his growing family ~And,
 984 Summer|             subsisting on pale whey, ~Half-dead and half-alive from brutish
 985 Spring|           your meats, ~You drag along half-starved to do your feudal tasks. ~
 986 Winter|             sit on a high throne,~And handed you a sword to punish the
 987 Autumn|           beams and gables sway, ~And hanging strips of boards, tied with
 988 Summer|            their names, ~'Hey, Kubas, Hans, Enskys! Where are you loafing
 989 Spring|              and night.~You know what happens when a bunch of dolls arrives. ~"
 990 Spring|              clothes, ~Each day lives happily like an angel in heav'n. ~
 991 Winter|              And like a prickly thorn harasses weary boors; ~And his adviser,
 992 Autumn|           That's not the worst of it. Hard-drinking parents oft ~Drag their
 993 Autumn|               it there, ~And save the hard-earned pennies for such yearly
 994 Winter|         lowland, swamp, and marsh all hard-fixed frowns take on, ~And how
 995 Spring|          watchman almost skinned your hardened hide, ~And you alimping
 996 Spring|               speedily, ~Transforming hards and flax into an even thread. ~
 997 Autumn|                you know full well the hardships of these times, ~How we
 998 Summer|               the noble lords and the hardworking boors; ~But I could never
 999 Spring|               the notes of violin and harp,~When you in glory raise
1000 Summer|            Yet like a stinking brute, harrassed by his misdeeds, ~Has no