The Pig

"The Pig", original ink and watercolour illustrated by Quentin Blake

 
Roald Dahl, in his macabre style, wrote a poem called the pig that reminds us how clever pigs might be, and that relations of feeding is not necessarily a one way street. The poem captures the ambivalent and unstable relation we have with pigs. That they are very smart. And that pigs, sometimes, will eat people.

The poem begins describing a clever, well read, philosophically minded pig who, deep in thought, came to the very troubling realisation his purpose in life was to become pork. Instead, he thought it best to act first, and....

    Next morning, in comes Farmer Bland,
    A pail of pigswill in his hand,
    And piggy with a mighty roar,
    Bashes the farmer to the floor…
    Now comes the rather grizzly bit
    So let's not make too much of it,
    Except that you must understand
    That Piggy did eat Farmer Bland,
    He ate him up from head to toe,
    Chewing the pieces nice and slow.
    It took an hour to reach the feet,
    Because there was so much to eat,
    And when he finished, Pig, of course,
    Felt absolutely no remorse.

©Roald Dahl Story Company Ltd