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The man who has the heart
of the lily, the
soul of a cherub, the heavenly tongue,
the minimal and sweet Francis of Assisi,
is with a rude and grim animal, a
fearful beast, of blood and of theft,
the jaws of fury, the eyes of evil:
the wolf of Gubbia, the terrible wolf,
raging, has ravaged the surroundings;
cruel has destroyed all flocks;
it devoured lambs, it devoured shepherds,
and its deaths and injuries are countless.
Strong iron-armed
hunters
were smashed. The hard fangs
accounted for the bravest dogs,
like goats and lambs.
Francisco went
out: he
looked for the wolf
in his burrow.
Near the cave he found the
enormous beast , which upon seeing him threw itself fiercely
against him. Francisco, with his sweet voice,
raising his hand,
to the furious wolf said:? Peace, brother
wolf! The animal
looked at the man in coarse sackcloth;
he left his surly air,
closed his aggressive open jaws,
and said:? Okay, brother Francisco!
How! ? exclaimed the saint ?. Is it law that you live
in horror and death?
The blood that
your diabolical snout spills , the mourning and fear
that you spread, the cry
of the peasants, the cry, the pain
of so many creatures of Our Lord, will they
not contain your infernal anger?
Do you come from hell?
Has
Luzbel or Belial instilled in you his eternal resentment ?
And the great wolf, humble:? Winter is harsh,
and hunger is horrible! In the frozen forest
I did not find what to eat; and I looked for the cattle,
and sometimes I ate cattle and shepherd.
The blood? I saw more than one hunter
on his horse, carrying his hawk
to his fist; or run after the wild boar,
the bear or the deer; and more than one I saw the animals of Our Lord
stained with blood, hurt, tortured,
from the hoarse trunks to the muffled cry
.
And it was not by hunger, they would hunt.
Francisco responds:? In man there is
bad yeast.
When born it comes with sin. It's sad.
But the simple soul of the beast is pure.
You are going to have
something to eat from today.
You will leave
herds and people alone in this country.
May God melify your wild being!
? Okay, brother Francisco de AsÃs.
? Before the Lord, who binds and
looses everything, in faith of promise screw me up.
The wolf held out his paw to
Assisi's brother , who in turn held out his hand.
They went to the village. People saw
and what they saw they hardly believed.
After the religious was the fierce wolf,
and, lowering his head, still he followed him
like a house dog, or like a lamb.
Francisco called
the people to the square
and there he preached.
And he said:? Here's a nice hunt.
Brother wolf is coming with me;
He swore to me no longer to be your enemy,
and not to repeat his bloody attack.
You, on the other hand, will give its food
to the poor beast of God. "So be it!"
Replied the entire village people.
And then, as a sign
of contentment,
the good animal moved its head and tail,
and with Francisco de AsÃs entered the convent.
* For some time
the wolf was quiet
in the holy asylum.
His coarse ears heard the psalms
and his pale eyes were moistened.
He learned a thousand graces and played a thousand games
when he went to the kitchen with the laymen.
And when Francis made his prayer,
the wolf licked the poor sandals.
He went out into the street,
went through the mountains, descended into the valley,
entered the houses and they gave him something
to eat. They looked at him like a meek greyhound.
One day, Francisco was absent. And the
sweet wolf , the meek and good wolf, the honest wolf,
disappeared, returned to the mountain,
and their howl and fury began again.
Again the fear, the alarm, was felt
among the neighbors and among the shepherds;
fright filled the surroundings,
courage and weapon were of no use,
because the fierce beast
never gave up its fury,
as if it had
fires of Moloch and Satan.
When the divine
saint returned to the town,
everyone looked for him with complaints and tears,
and with a thousand complaints they gave testimony
of what they suffered and lost so much
for that infamous demon wolf.
Francisco de AsÃs
became severe.
He went to the mountain
to look for the false butcher wolf.
And next to his cave he found the critter.
? In the name of the Father of the sacred universe,
conjure you? He said ?, O perverse wolf!,
To answer me: Why have you returned to evil?
Answers. I hear you.
As if in a dull struggle, the animal spoke, with
its foamy mouth and its fatal eye
:? Brother Francisco, don't get too close ...
I was calm there in the convent;
I would go out to town,
and if they gave me something I was happy
and meekly would eat.
But I began to see that in all the houses there
was Envy, Anger, Anger,
and in all faces the embers
of hatred, lust, infamy and lies were burning .
Brothers to brothers made war,
the weak lost, the bad won,
female and male were like dog and bitch,
and one fine day they all beat me up.
They saw me humble, licking the hands
and feet. I followed your sacred laws,
all creatures were my brothers:
male brothers, ox brothers,
star sisters and worm brothers.
And so they beat me and kicked me out.
And his laughter was like boiling water,
and the beast revived within my entrails,
and I suddenly felt like a bad wolf;
but always better than those bad people.
and I started fighting here again,
defending myself and feeding myself.
As the bear does, like the wild boar,
that to live they have to kill.
Leave me on the mountain, leave me on the cliff,
let me exist in my freedom,
go to your convent, brother Francisco,
follow your path and your holiness.
The saint of
Assisi said nothing to him.
He looked at him with a deep look,
and left with tears and grief,
and spoke to the eternal God with his heart.
The forest wind carried his prayer,
which was: Our Father, who art in heaven ...
-
Ruben Dario
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