THE FABLES OF LA FONTAINE. TO MONSEIGNEUR THE DAUPHIN.1 I SING the heroes of old Æsop's line, Whose tale, though false when strictly we define, SON OF A PRINCE the favourite of the skies, 1 This dedication prefaced La Fontaine's first collection of his Fables, which comprised Books I. to VI., published in 1668. The Dauphin was Louis, the only son of Louis XIV. and Marie-Thérèse of Austria. He was born at Fontainebleau in 1661, and died at Meudon in 1712, before his father, the "Grand Monarque," had ceased to reign. The Dauphin being but a child, between six and seven years old, at the time of this dedication, La Fontaine's act may be viewed rather as an offering to the King, than to the child himself. See the Translator's Preface. BOOK I. I.—THE GRASSHOPPER AND THE ANT.1 A GRASSHOPPER gay For the loan of some wheat, The ant is a friend (And here she might mend) ? 'How spent you the summer Now, ma'am, you must dance.' For the story of this fable, as for the stories of so many of the fables which follow, especially in the first six books, La Fontaine is indebted to the Father of Fable, Æsop the Phrygian. See account of Æsop in the Translator's Preface. II. THE RAVEN AND THE FOX.' PERCH'D on a lofty oak, Sir Raven held a lunch of cheese; Must show how musical his croak. rogue should never cheat him more. III.—THE FROG THAT WISHED TO BE AS BIG AS THE OX.2 THE tenant of a bog, An envious little frog, Not bigger than an egg, A stately bullock spies, 1 Both Æsop and Phædrus have a version of this fable. 2 The story of this fable is given in Horace, Satires, II. 3, Phædrus and Corrozet have also versions of it. For an account of Phædrus and his Fables see the Translator's Preface. Gilles Corrozet was one of the French fabulists immediately preceding La Fontaine. He was a Parisian bookseller-author who lived between 1516 and 1568. With earnestness and pains, And says, 'Sis Frog, look here! see me! 'Well, then, is this?' 'Poh! poh! Of just such wisdom;— The cit to build his dome; IV. THE TWO MULES. Two mules were bearing on their backs, March'd proudly forward on the road; A band of robber men They by the bridle seized The treasure-mule so vain. Poor mule in struggling to repel Stabb'd through; and with a bitter sighing, While, weltering in my gore, I'm dying?' The silver of the tax.-An allusion to the French gabelle, or old salt tax, which, like all taxes levied upon the mass of the people, was a very productive one. Its collection caused several peasants' insurrections. 'My friend,' his fellow-mule replied, V. THE WOLF AND THE DOG.' Once met a mastiff dog astray. Would fain have made a ration But then he first must fight; And well the dog seem'd able His carcass snug and tight. So, then, in civil conversation With such a pack, of course it follows, 'But what with Has one to do?" Inquires the wolf. you Light work indeed,' Replies the dog; 'you only need 1 Phædrus, III. 7.—The references to the Fables of Phædrus are to Bohn's edition, which is from the critical edition of Orellius, 1831. |