نَزَلَ الفَأَرُ بِبَيتي

رِفقَةً مِن رِفقِه

The mouse descended, settling in my house,

Accompanied by a cohort of his kin,

حَلقاً بَعدَ قِطارٍ

نَزَلوا بِالبَيتِ صَفقَه

In circling swarms and columns, line by line,

They occupied the home in one fell swoop.

اِبنَ عِرسٍ رَأس بَيتي

صاعِداً في رَأس نَبقَه

The weasel stands as master of my roof,

Ascending high atop the Lotus tree.

سَيفَهُ سَيفٌ حديدٌ

شَقَّةٌ مِن ضِلعِ سَلقَه

He wields a sword, a blade of iron steel,

A splinter taken from a wolf-bitch rib.

جاءَنا يَطرُقُ بِاللَي

ل فَدَقَّ البابَ دَقَّه

He came to visit us amidst the night,

And rapped upon the door a heavy knock.

دَخَلَ البَيتَ جَهاراً

لَم يَدَع في البَيتِ فَلقَه

He breached the home in openness and glare,

And left no single morsel standing there.

وَتَترس بِرَغيفٍ

وَصَفَقَ نازَويه صَفقَه

He took a loaf of bread to be his shield,

And struck his leaping rival with a blow.

فصَفقَةٌ أَبصَرَت مِنها

في سَوادِ العَينِ زُرقَه

A strike from which I witnessed, purely dazed,

Within the eye’s deep black, a flash of blue,

زُرقَةً مِثلَ اِبنِ عِرسٍ

أَغبَشَ تَعلوهُ بَلقَه

A blueness likened to the weasel’s coat,

A dusky grey marked by a piebald spot.