在家中，农民吃谷物，
在余烬上煮沸做稀粥，
田鼠也--是可怜的东西--
它们的胃中几乎没有一粒谷。
农民们从地里，归来，饿着
翻出他们的口袋，
多数浪费。他们坚持做
丢脸地吃的练习。
这个阶级，就这点而论，保留着
对国库和国家的烦恼的来源。
一种对养育固执的拒绝，似乎
使他们的物种处于衰微状态。
他们拥有这个国家，但至少不愿
承认它。他们只是哭泣和灭亡。
At home, the peasants eat grains,
boiled over embers to make a gruel.
The hamsters also – poor things –
have hardly a grain in their gizzard.
Peasants returning, starved, from fields
are made to turn out their pockets.
A wasteful lot. They persist
in the shameful practice of eating.
This class, as such, remains a source
of irritation to treasury and state.
A wilful refusal to breed, it seems,
has sent their species into decline.
They own the country, but simply won’t
admit it. They just weep and die.
