“Pangur Bán” is an Old Irish poem, written about the 9th century at or around Reichenau Abbey. It was written by an Irish monk, and is about his cat. Pangur Bán, “Fair Pangur”, is the cat’s name, Pangur meaning a fuller. (While bán translates literally white, when applied to living beings the meaning is fair. Cf dubh literally black, but when applied to living beings meaning dark, e.g. Agnes Dubh, Black Agnes, the nickname of Agnes Randolph, the famous 14th-century Countess of Dunbar.) Although the poem is anonymous, it bears similarities to the poetry of Sedulius Scottus, prompting speculation that Sedulius is the author.[1] In 8 verses of four lines, the author compares the cat’s happy hunting with his own scholarly pursuits.
The poem is preserved in the Reichenau Primer (Stift St. Paul Cod. 86b/1 fol 1v) and now kept in St. Paul’s Abbey in the Lavanttal.
Here we present two translations from the old Irish.
| “The Scholar and the Cat” | “From the Irish of Pangur Ban” |
| by Frank O’Connor | by Eavan Boland |
| Each of us pursues his trade, I and Pangur my comrade, His whole fancy on the hunt, And mine for learning ardent.More than fame I love to be Among my books and study, Pangur does not grudge me it, Content with his own merit. When a heavenly time! we are While he sets his round sharp eye Now a mouse drops in his net When a mouse comes to the kill Though we work for days and years Master of the death of mice, |
Myself and Pangur, cat and sage Go each about our business; I harass my beloved page, He his mouse.Fame comes second to the peace Of study, a still day Unenvying, Pangur’s choice Is child’s play. Neither bored, both hone When at last his net wraps On my cell wall here, And his delight when his claws So we find by degrees He loves: Pangur, never idle |