One of my favorite introductions is from Watership Down. The haunting lines from Aeschlylus’ Agamemnon so perfectly foreshadow the rabbits’ doom that it seems they were chosen first and the story was written to fulfill them:
Chor: Warum wehklagst du so, wenn nicht bei einem Bild des Schreckens?
Cassandra: Das Haus dampft nach Tod und tropfendem Blut.
Chor: Wieso? Es is nur der Geruch nach dem Altaropfer.
Cassandra: Der Gestank ist wei Grabeshauch.
The German translation actually sounds more ominous, meiner Meinung nach, than the English:
Chorus: Why do you cry out thus, unless at some vision of horror?
Cassandra: The house reeks of death and dripping blood.
Chorus: How so? ‘Tis but the odor of the altar sacrifice.
Cassandra: The stench is like a breath from the tomb.
Heilige Scheiße, this is clearly not going to be a children’s book!