Avoir Et Être

Far from the old grammar books,
Listen to how, one beautiful evening,
My mother taught me the mysteries
Of the verb 'to be' and the verb 'to have'...

Among my best auxiliaries,
There are two original verbs.
To have and to be were two brothers
Whom I knew from the cradle

Although opposite in character,
One could believe them to be twins,
So singular is their story.
But these two brothers were rivals.

What 'to have' would have liked to be,
'To be' always wanted to have.
By not wanting any god or master,
The verb 'to be' was had.

His brother 'to have' was in the bank
And put on a big show.
While 'to be', always lacking,
Suffered greatly in his ego.

While 'to be' was learning to read
And studying the humanities,
On his side, without saying anything,
'To have' was learning to count.

And he amassed fortunes,
In assets, in cash,
While 'to be', a bit absent-minded,
Had let himself be dispossessed.

'To have' was ostentatious
When he showed himself generous.
'To be', on the other hand, and it's well known,
Is often presumptuous.

'To have' travels in business class;
He keeps all his titles safe.
While 'to be' is more generous:
He will keep nothing for himself.

His wealth is all internal:
They are things of the spirit.
The verb 'to be' is all in modesty,
And his nobility is at this price...

One day, through a lot of daydreams,
To reach an agreement
(between verbs it can be done),
They combined their efforts,

And, not to lose face,
In the midst of the gathered words,
They divided the tasks
To finally reconcile.

The verb 'to have' needs 'to be'
Because 'to be' is to exist.
The verb 'to be' needs assets
To enrich its good sides.

And, from endless discussions
To convoluted arguments,
Our two inseparable brothers
Could be and have been.

And, from endless discussions
To convoluted arguments,
Our two inseparable brothers
Could be and have been.