Prevod

(Of a bad poet’s works, the shortest does the least harm.) A certain Poet (who by trade was one of those whose fancies, before they can 5 be copied out fair, are already applauded in the theaters) wrote tragic dramas, comedies, 10 and several short farces in the same vein. Though well pleased with his writings, he nevertheless asked 15 a learned friend to tell him, without flattery, which most deserved his esteem. 20 His friend replied: “I am most inclined to favor the farces.” —“For what reason?” —“Have patience; 25 I shall explain... Listen to a tale that will not take long. “A Wart, a Wen, 30 and a Hump—what a trio!—are said to have had a dispute over which of them 35 was the prettiest. Dame Hump, on account of her size, wished to claim first place. 40 Don Wen, being well proportioned, wished to be judged the handsomest. But the Wart 45 claimed the same honor, for she held that her charm lay in her smallness. “An expert heard this dispute; 50 it made him laugh heartily, and he said at once: ‘Well, Wart, you speak good sense! All three of you are, in truth, so fine, 55 that you may rightly say: Of evils, I am the least.’”