Mark A. Mandel, © 2001
ttto Michael Longcor's setting of Rudyard Kipling's "The Irish Guards"
based on C.J. Cherryh's Chanur trilogy
We're not so old in space, hakkikt,
but we're not so new to the deal,
For alliance and pact were in our blood
before we had the wheel.
Chanur's been treating with friends and foes
and Immune black-breeches, too,
For ages before the Pride arose
to trouble the likes of you.Old Days! The hani are flighting,
Into the storm as we've faced it before.
Wherever Chanur is, there's dealing and fighting,
And when there is neither, Chanur is no more,
Chanur is no more!You want this human prize, hakkikt,
For conquest and for power.
But all your menace and all your strength
Will never make us cower.
The hakkikt is ambitious,
But the hakkikt best beware:
You may reach the mountaintop, but try
To build you a house up there!Old Days! The hani are flying,
Into the storm as we've faced it before.
Wherever Chanur is, there's honor undying,
And when it is dead, then Chanur is no more,
Chanur is no more!From valley Hold to watershed,
Anuurn to Meetpoint docks,
The ancient days come back no more
than air lost out of the locks.
But the air we breathe at Meetpoint out
we breathed on Anuurn in,
And when politics is the air you breathe
you politick to win!New Days! The hani are ranging,
Into the storm as we've faced it before.
The humans are here and the Compact is changing,
And if we don't change, then Chanur is no more,
Chanur is no more!We're not so old in space, hakkikt,
but we're not so new to our trade,
And none that trusted in Chanur
have found their trust betrayed.
You cannot win this fight, hakkikt,
whether or not we survive,
For martyred Chanur is twice as strong
as ever Chanur alive!Ah, friend! And did we stand by you
When naked and hunted you came to our door?
Ah, friend! And will we deny you
The fate of your species, the Compact, and more?Old Days! The hani are flighting,
Into the storm as we've faced it before.
Wherever Chanur is, there's honor and fighting,
And when we lose either, Chanur is no more,
Chanur is no more!
Chanur is no more!
last modified 021010