I asked Onegin's famous uncle --
ran into him at a soiree:
"What have you done that would so rankle
your nephew, Eugene, that he'd say
these things. Compare you to a donkey?
How dare this upstart, tall and swanky
say that he wishes you to hell?
How IS your health? Trust all is well?"
The uncle waved his hand. "He's SO mean,
In truth, I wasn't too surprised.
But that's ok, I've since revised
my will and testament, so Eugene
will not receive a single cent.
Now, who's the jackass, tell me, gent."
Author notes: For those who've read a translation of Onegin, or even the original but don't know what the donkey allusion is all about, the first line of Onegin in Russian almost perfectly matches a line about a donkey in a Krilov allegorical fable, with some debate as to who used the allusion first, and whether one purposely alluded to the other. https://rvb.ru/18vek/krylov/01text/vol3/01fables/159.htm
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