INTRODUZIONE
“A New World” è il primo libro di Mosè, più noto come la Genesi, raccontato in modo unico. Versi scorrevoli in rima baciata ed un incalzante ritmo trasportano il lettore dalle delizie verdeggianti del Giardino dell’Eden, oltre Noè e l’alluvione e le avventure di Abramo e Isacco, fino all’arrivo di Giuseppe in Egitto e la sua ascesa al potere come braccio destro del Faraone. Uno stile scanzonato ma mai irriverente, porta in vita i personaggi di questa storia biblica e fa di ‘A New World’ una lettura molto piacevole sia per bambini che per adulti.
Per trarre il massimo beneficio dalla traccia audio, si consiglia di fare l’ascolto almeno una volta prima di passare alla lettura del testo.
The butler
and
the baker
[Genesis 40:1]
While Joseph was in prison, hoping for a trial,
A rather curious incident concerned him for a while.
Pharaoh’s palace butler and the chief of all his bakers,
Were thrown together into jail for being troublemakers.
The prison keeper put them both in trusty Joseph’s care,
As he was then responsible for all the prisoners there.
Though Joseph did his utmost to brighten up their stay,
The look upon their faces got worse and worse each day.
They said they had been shaken by something they had dreamt,
And nobody could tell them exactly what it meant.
Joseph said that he would try, he might just understand,
And being a religious man, God would lend a hand.
The butler told his story first, he’d dreamt about a vine,
Which only had three branches, though each was strong and fine.
Little buds had burst and bloomed where first the bark was bare,
Then, when all the flowers had gone, grapes were hanging there.
He’d picked as much as he could hold, and back inside the palace,
He’d squeezed it and served the juice in Pharaoh’s favourite chalice.
Joseph listened carefully and said, “Don’t look so black,
In three days’ time, I promise you, you’ll get your old job back.”
In return he asked the butler, with a hopeful glance,
To find him favour with the King, if he should get the chance.
Tired of suffering for a crime that he had not committed,
He missed his friends and family, he openly admitted.
Then the baker told his tale, relieved by what he’d heard,
And Joseph listened carefully, intent on every word.
In his dream the baker had three baskets on his head,
And in the topmost basket were biscuits, pies and bread.
He’d baked them for his master, tarts and lemon curds,
But they had all been eaten by a flock of passing birds.
Jo was quick to understand the meaning of each sign,
He knew at once the baker’s dream was anything but fine.
“In three days’ time,” he told him, “the king will set you free,
He’ll let you out of prison, and take you to a tree.
He’ll hang you from its branches, all naked and alone,
And birds will swoop upon you, and pick you to the bone.”
Three days later, sure enough, Jo’s prophecy came true,
The Pharaoh had his birthday, and held a massive do.
The butler got his job back, and promised to be good,
The baker met his maker, as Jo had said he would.
Joseph saw a ray of hope, he kneeled down and prayed,
The butler, though, soon forgot the promise he had made.
