Vale to You, To Me the Heights

<SPAN name="startofbook"></SPAN> <h2> THE VALE TO YOU, TO ME THE HEIGHTS. </h2> <h2> By Victor Hugo </h2> <hr/> <p> A FABLE.<br/> <br/> {Bk. III. vi., October, 1846.}<br/></p> <p> A lion camped beside a spring, where came the Bird<br/> Of Jove to drink:<br/> When, haply, sought two kings, without their courtier herd,<br/> The moistened brink,<br/> Beneath the palm&mdash;<i>they</i> always tempt pugnacious hands&mdash;<br/> Both travel-sore;<br/> But quickly, on the recognition, out flew brands<br/> Straight to each core;<br/> As dying breaths commingle, o'er them rose the call<br/> Of Eagle shrill:<br/> "Yon crownèd couple, who supposed the world too small,<br/> Now one grave fill!<br/> Chiefs blinded by your rage! each bleachèd sapless bone<br/> Becomes a pipe<br/> Through which siroccos whistle, trodden 'mong the stone<br/> By quail and snipe.<br/> Folly's liege-men, what boots such murd'rous raid,<br/> And mortal feud?<br/> I, Eagle, dwell as friend with Leo&mdash;none afraid&mdash;<br/> In solitude:<br/> At the same pool we bathe and quaff in placid mood.<br/> Kings, he and I;<br/> For I to him leave prairie, desert sands and wood,<br/> And he to me the sky."<br/> <br/> H.L.W.<br/></p> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />