Prevod

Twelve servants, who had done nothing all day, had no wish to exert themselves in the evening either, so they lay down in the grass and boasted of their laziness. The first said, “What is your laziness to me? I have my own to attend to. Looking after my body is my chief occupation: I eat a good deal and drink all the more. Once I have had four meals, I fast for a little while, until I feel hungry again; that suits me best. Early rising is not for me, and by the time noon draws near, I am already looking for a place to rest. If the master calls, I pretend I have not heard him, and if he calls a second time, I wait a while before getting up, and even then I walk very slowly. That is how to make life bearable.” The second said, “I have a horse to look after, but I leave the bit in its mouth, and when I do not feel like feeding it, I give it nothing and say it has already eaten. Instead, I lie down in the oat bin and sleep for four hours. Afterwards I may stick out a foot and run it over the horse’s body a few times, and there it is, curried and groomed. Why make such a fuss? Yet even that work is too much trouble for me.” The third said, “Why wear yourself out with work? Nothing comes of it. I lay down in the sun and slept. It began to drizzle, but why get up? I let it rain on, in God’s name. At last there came a downpour so violent that it tore the hair from my head and washed it away, leaving a hole in my skull. I put a plaster over it, and that was that. I have suffered mishaps of that sort before.” The fourth said, “If I am to tackle a job, I first spend an hour half asleep, to save my strength. Then I begin at a leisurely pace and ask whether there is anyone else about who might help me. I let them do the main part of the work and really do no more than watch; but even that is too much for me.” The fifth said, “What does that amount to? Just imagine, I am supposed to clear the manure out of the stable and load it onto the cart. I take things slowly, and once I have some on my fork, I lift it only halfway up and rest for a quarter of an hour before tossing it the rest of the way. It is more than enough if I cart out one load a day. I have no wish to work myself to death.” The sixth said, “Shame on you! I am not frightened of any work, but I lie down for three weeks without so much as taking off my clothes. Why put buckles on shoes? They may fall off my feet for all I care; it does no harm. If I want to climb a staircase, I slowly drag first one foot and then the other onto the first step, then count the rest so that I know where I must stop to rest.” The seventh said, “That would not do for me: my master keeps an eye on my work, except that he is away from home all day. Still, I neglect nothing; I run as fast as one can while creeping along. To get me moving, four sturdy men would have to push me with all their might. I came to a place where six men lay sleeping side by side on a wooden bunk; I lay down beside them and went to sleep too. There was no waking me again, and if they wanted me home, they had to carry me away.” The eighth said, “I can see that I am the only lively fellow here. If there is a stone in front of me, I do not trouble to lift my legs and step over it; I lie down on the ground instead. And if I am wet and covered in mud and filth, I stay where I am until the sun has dried me again. At most, I turn over so that it can shine on me.” The ninth said, “That is something to boast of! Today there was bread lying in front of me, but I was too lazy to reach for it and nearly starved to death. There was a jug beside it too, but it was so large and heavy that I could not be bothered to lift it and preferred to go thirsty. Even turning over was too much for me; I lay like a log all day.” The tenth said, “Laziness has done me harm: a broken leg and swollen calves. Three of us were lying in a cart track, and I had my legs stretched out. Someone came along with a cart, and the wheels went over them. Of course I could have drawn my legs back, but I did not hear the cart coming: the gnats were buzzing about my ears, crawling in through my nose and out again through my mouth. Who would take the trouble to drive the vermin away?” The eleventh said, “Yesterday I gave up my place. I had no wish to go on fetching my master’s heavy books and carrying them away again; there was no end to it all day long. But to tell the truth, he dismissed me and would not keep me any longer, for the clothes of his that I had left lying in the dust had been eaten by moths; and quite right too.” The twelfth said, “Today I had to drive the cart across the fields, so I made myself a bed of straw on it and fell sound asleep. The reins slipped out of my hand, and when I awoke, the horse had almost broken loose, and the harness was gone: the backband, collar, bridle and bit. Someone had come by and carried everything off. Besides that, the cart had run into a puddle and was stuck fast. I left it where it was and stretched out on the straw again. At last the master came himself and pushed the cart out, and if he had not come, I should not be lying here, but there, sleeping in perfect peace.”