Wow, what a challenging task, you can see from the prose crib how different the syntax is from English, and yet the translator preserved the form, which is not an easy one. It reads like a clever poem written in English by someone with a fondness for rhyme and assonance - esp. 2 and 3. ("Black-and-yellow assassin, dagger in hand" - love that line!)
The point of 1, I gather from the original, is that even in the middle of a mild summer, the ants are so industrious they can't relax, but start planning for winter. That isn't coming through in 1, I'm not sure what's being said, and 2 and 3 also sound better. "Great musicians they are, birds" - nicely done.
I'm with you on "anthropo- / phagic", Julie. You could argue that it's as important, or at least as valid, to translate the playfulness of a poem as any other aspect of it.
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