第2章 The Sacred Lizards

Did you meet the sacred lizards?

Did you see them swagger across the yards,

And how with assurance they slither and roam,

And into barns and hearths and homes?

They were revered; both green and red heads

But it must all have gotten into their heads;

For once,while the people sowed in hope of bountiful yields,

The lizards dug up the fields

They ate the seed grains

And nothing sprouted after the awaited rains

Harvest time came

A famished people's palate are never tame

They tried every strange yields of the wild,

Even as hunger raged wild

And then they found a taste for sacred lizards;

Them who once swaggered across the yards

Their meat is still hungered for

And that is why you see them no more.

神圣的蜥蜴

你是否见过那神圣的蜥蜴

是否见过它们大摇大摆地穿过庭院

是否见过它们趾高气扬地蜿蜒漫步

溜进谷仓、壁炉和房屋

各形各色的人们都对蜥蜴无比尊敬

可他们真该长长记性

有一次，当人们在田野上播种希望

蜥蜴却大肆翻搅土地

吞食了谷物的种子

久违的甘霖降下，收获时节已至

大地却依然空空如也

饥饿至极的人们饥不择食

在饥荒大行其道之时

他们尝遍大自然产出的各种奇怪事物

然后他们尝到那神圣蜥蜴的肉味

那曾经大摇大摆穿过庭院的蜥蜴

它们的肉被人们思慕至今

因此你再也不会见到那神圣的蜥蜴了