يُقالُ كانَت فَأرَةُ الغيطانِ

تَتيهُ بِاِبنَيها عَلى الفيرانِ

It is said there was a field mouse

Who wandered with her two sons over the haystacks

قَد سَمَّتِ الأَكبَرَ نورَ الغَيطِ

وَعَلَّمَتهُ المَشيَ فَوقَ الخَيطِ

She named the elder Light of the Field

And taught him to walk over thread

فَعَرَفَ الغِياضَ وَالمُروجا

وَأَتقَنَ الدُخولَ وَالخُروجا

So he came to know the meadows and pastures

And mastered going in and coming out

وَصارَ في الحِرفَةِ كَالآباءِ

وَعاشَ كَالفَلّاحِ في هَناءِ

And became in his craft like his forebears

And lived happily like a farmer

وَأَتعَبَ الصَغيرُ قَلبَ الأُمِّ

بِالكِبرِ فَاِحتارَت بِما تُسَمّي

But the younger broke his mother's heart

With arrogance, and she was perplexed what to name him

فَقالَ سَمّيني بِنورِ القَصرِ

لِأَنَّني يا أُمُّ فَأرُ العَصرِ

So he said, name me Light of the Palace

For I, mother, am the mouse of the age

إِنّي أَرى ما لَم يَرَ الشَقيقُ

فَلي طَريقٌ وَلَهُ طَريقُ

I see what my brother cannot see

So I have a path and he has a path

لَأَدخُلَنَّ الدارَ بَعدَ الدارِ

وَثباً مِنَ الرَفِّ إِلى الكَرارِ

I will enter house after house

Leaping from shelf to jar

لَعَلَّني إِن ثَبَتَت أَقدامي

وَنُلتُ يا كُلَّ المُنى مَرامي

Perhaps if my feet prove steady

And I attain, O all I wish, my hopes

آتيكُما بِما أَرى في البَيتِ

مِن عَسَلٍ أَو جُبنَةٍ أَو زَيتِ

I will bring you what I find in the house

Of honey or cheese or oil

فَعَطَفَت عَلى الصَغيرِ أُمُّه

وَأَقبَلَت مِن وَجدِها تَضُمُّه

So his mother inclined to the younger one

And drew him close, hugging him

تَقولُ إِنّي يا قَتيلَ القوتِ

أَخشى عَلَيكَ ظُلمَةَ البُيوتِ

Saying, I fear for you, O victim of appetite

The darkness of houses

كانَ أَبوكَ قَد رَأى الفَلاحا

في أَن تَكونَ مِثلَهُ فَلّاحا

Your father saw it fit

For you to be a farmer like him

فَاِعمَل بِما أَوصى تُرِح جَناني

أَو لا فَسِر في ذِمَّةِ الرَحمَنِ

So do as he advised and gladden my soul

Or go safely under God's protection

فَاِستَضحَكَ الفَأرُ وَهَزَّ الكَتِفا

وَقالَ مَن قالَ بِذا قَد خَرِفا

But the mouse just laughed and shook his shoulder

And said, whoever said that is senile

ثُمَّ مَضى لِما عَلَيهِ صَمَّما

وَعاهَدَ الأُمَّ عَلى أَن تَكتُما

Then he went ahead with his resolve

And swore his mother to secrecy

فَكانَ يَأتي كُلَّ يَومِ جُمعَه

وَجُبنَةٌ في فَمِهِ أَو شَمعَه

So every Friday he came

With cheese in his mouth or candle fat

حَتّى مَضى الشَهرُ وَجاءَ الشَهرُ

وَعُرِفَ اللِصُّ وَشاعَ الأَمرُ

Until a month passed and the next month

And the thief was found out and the matter spread

فَجاءَ يَوماً أُمَّهُ مُضطَرِباً

فَسَأَلتُهُ أَينَ خَلّى الذَنَبا

So one day he came to her in turmoil

And she asked him where did he leave his tail

فَقالَ لَيسَ بِالفَقيدِ مِن عَجَب

في الشَهدِ قَد غاصَ وَفي الشَهدِ ذَهَب

He said there's nothing strange

In honey to have sunk and in honey to be lost

وَجاءَها ثانِيَةً في خَجَلِ

مِنها يُداري فَقدَ إِحدى الأَرجُلِ

And he came to her a second time, ashamed

Hiding from her that he had lost a leg

فَقالَ رَفٌّ لَم أصِبهُ عالي

صَيَّرَني أَعرج في المَعالي

He said, "A shelf I did not jump well from

Has left me limping in the heights."

وَكانَ في الثالِثَةِ اِبنُ الفارَه

قَد أَخلَفَ العادَةَ في الزِيارَه

And on the third time the mouse's son

Had broken his custom of visiting

فَاِشتَغَلَ القَلبُ عَلَيهِ وَاِشتَعَل

وَسارَتِ الأُمُّ لَهُ عَلى عَجَل

So her heart was troubled for him and aflame

And the mother set out to him in haste

فَصادَفتهُ في الطَريقِ مُلقى

قَد سُحِقَت مِنهُ العِظامُ سَحقا

And found him on the road, flung down

His bones crushed to powder

فَناحَتِ الأُمُّ وَصاحَت واها

إِنَّ المَعالي قَتَلَت فَتاها

So the mother cried out wailing, "Woe!"

"The heights have killed my son!"