wakened it was noon,
And I found myself alone,
Since my hostess and Lascaro
For the chase had left at dawn.

There was no one save the pug
In the hovel. There he stood
By the hearth beside the pot
Holding in his paws a spoon.

Clever pug! well disciplined!
Lest the steaming soup boil over,
Swift he stirred it round and round,
Skimming off the foam and scum.

But--am I bewitched too?
Or does fever smoulder still
In my brain? For scarce can I
Trust my ears. The pug-dog speaks!

Aye, he speaks in homely strains
Of the Swabian dialect,
Deeply sunk in thought, he cries,
As it were within a dream:

"Woe is me--a Swabian bard,
Banned in exile must I grieve
In a pug-dog's cursed shape
Guardian of a witch's pot.

"What a base and hideous crime
Is this sorcery! My fate
Ah, how tragic! I, a man,
In the body of a dog!

"Had I but remained at home
With my jolly comrades true--
No vile sorcerers are they!
And their spells no man need fear.

"Had I but remained at home
At Karl Meyer's--with the sweet
Noodles of the Vaterland
And good honest metzel-soup!

"Of homesickness I shall die!
Might I only spy the smoke
Rising from old Stuttgart's flues
When the precious dumplings seethe."

Pity seized me when I heard
This sad story, and I sprang
From my couch and took a seat
By the fireplace and spake:

"Noble poet, tell what chance
Brought thee to this beldam's hut.
Why, oh why, in cruel wise,
Wast thou changed into a dog?"

But the pug exclaimed in joy:
"What! You are no Frenchman then?
But a German, and you've heard
All my hapless monologue?

"Ah, dear countryman, 'twas ill
That old Koelle, Councillor,
When at eve we sat and argued
At the inn o'er pipe and mug,

"Should have harped on the idea
That by travel only might
One attain such culture broad,
As by travel he attained!

"Now, so I might shed the rude
Husk that on my manners lay,
Even as Koelle, and attain
Polish from the world at large,

"To my home I bade farewell,
And in quest of culture came
To the Pyrenees at last,
And Uraka's little hut.

"And a reference I brought
From Justinus Kerner too!