Zofia Kossak: Every creature has its day. War and crocodiles.

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Anti-war essays, poems, short stories and literary excerpts
Women writers on peace and war
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Zofia Kossak
From Blessed Are The Meek
Translated by Rulka Langer
Frightened hippopotami were fleeing upstream. The crocodiles, those wise lizards once worshipped and held sacred, were scurrying downstream. Behind them was the experience of many thousands of years of dealing with man; they knew the ways of the humans; they could appraise them judiciously. The more armed men crossed the Father of Rivers, the more fiercely they shook their spears and drummed upon their shields, the more abundant would be the food for the rightful inhabitants of the river, the more bodies would float down to the sea. On such occasions one could fill one’s belly enough for several weeks. Only the bumps over their eyes showing above the water, the great reptiles keenly watched the doings of man. Not since the times of Antony and Cleopatra had there been such multitudes here. They clasped their jaws in glee. Every creature has its time. Just as every year the Nile will flood the country, so every once in a while men will slaughter each other so that the crocodiles may gorge themselves.

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