Wine and Water
by G.K.Chesterton
Old Noah he had an ostrich farm and fowls on the largest scale, He ate his egg with a ladle in a egg-cup big as a pail, And the soup he took was Elephant Soup and fish he took was Whale, But they all were small to the cellar he took when he set out to sail, And Noah he often said to his wife when he sat down to dine, “I don’t care where the water goes if it doesn’t get into the wine.”
The cataract of the cliff of heaven fell blinding off the brink As if it would wash the stars away as suds go down a sink, The seven heavens came roaring down for the throats of hell to drink, And Noah he cocked his eye and said, “It looks like rain, I think, The water has drowned the Matterhorn as deep as a Mendip mine, But I don’t care where the water goes if it doesn’t get into the wine.”
But Noah he sinned, and we have sinned; on tipsy feet we trod, Till a great big black teetotaller was sent to us for a rod, And you can’t get wine at a P.S.A., or chapel, or Eisteddfod, For the Curse of Water has come again because of the wrath of God, And water is on the Bishop’s board and the Higher Thinker’s shrine, But I don’t care where the water goes if it doesn’t get into the wine.
Wine and Water
by G.K.Chesterton
Old Noah he had an ostrich farm and fowls on the largest scale, He ate his egg with a ladle in a egg-cup big as a pail, And the soup he took was Elephant Soup and fish he took was Whale, But they all were small to the cellar he took when he set out to sail, And Noah he often said to his wife when he sat down to dine, “I don’t care where the water goes if it doesn’t get into the wine.”
The cataract of the cliff of heaven fell blinding off the brink As if it would wash the stars away as suds go down a sink, The seven heavens came roaring down for the throats of hell to drink, And Noah he cocked his eye and said, “It looks like rain, I think, The water has drowned the Matterhorn as deep as a Mendip mine, But I don’t care where the water goes if it doesn’t get into the wine.”
But Noah he sinned, and we have sinned; on tipsy feet we trod, Till a great big black teetotaller was sent to us for a rod, And you can’t get wine at a P.S.A., or chapel, or Eisteddfod, For the Curse of Water has come again because of the wrath of God, And water is on the Bishop’s board and the Higher Thinker’s shrine, But I don’t care where the water goes if it doesn’t get into the wine.
Vino e Acqua
di G.K.Chesterton
Il vecchio Noè aveva un allevamento di struzzi e polli su vastissima scala, mangiava l’uovo con un mestolo in un portauovo grande come un secchio, e la zuppa che prendeva era Zuppa d’Elefante e il pesce che prendeva era Balena, ma tutto ciò era poca cosa rispetto alla cantina che imbarcò quando salpò, e Noè diceva spesso a sua moglie quando sedeva a pranzo, “Non m’importa dove vada l’acqua, purché non finisca nel vino.”
La cateratta della rupe del cielo cadde accecante giù dall’orlo come volesse lavar via le stelle come schiuma che scende in un lavello, i sette cieli precipitarono ruggendo perché le gole dell’inferno bevessero, e Noè strizzò l’occhio e disse: “Sembra pioggia, mi pare, l’acqua ha sommerso il Cervino fondo come una miniera del Mendip, ma non m’importa dove vada l’acqua, purché non finisca nel vino.”
Ma Noè peccò, e noi abbiamo peccato; su piedi malfermi camminammo, finché un grande grosso astemio nero ci fu mandato come castigo, e non trovi vino a una P.S.A., né in cappella, né a un Eisteddfod, ché la Maledizione dell’Acqua è tornata per l’ira di Dio, e l’acqua è sulla mensa del Vescovo e al sacrario del Pensatore Superiore, ma non m’importa dove vada l’acqua, purché non finisca nel vino.