Book I: The Wolf and the Lamb
That innocence is not a shield,A story teaches, not the longest.The strongest reasons always yieldTo reasons of the strongest.
A lamb her thirst was slaking,Once, at a mountain rill.A hungry wolf was takingHis hunt for sheep to kill,When, spying on the streamlet's brinkThis sheep of tender age,He howl'd in tones of rage,'How dare you roil my drink?Your impudence I shall chastise!''Let not your majesty,' the lamb replies,'Decide in haste or passion!For sure 'tis difficult to thinkIn what respect or fashionMy drinking here could roil your drink,Since on the stream your majesty now facesI'm lower down, full twenty paces.''You roil it,' said the wolf; 'and, more, I knowYou cursed and slander'd me a year ago.''O no! how could I such a thing have done!A lamb that has not seen a year,A suckling of its mother dear?''Your brother then.' 'But brother I have none.''Well, well, what's all the same,'Twas some one of your name.Sheep, men, and dogs of every nation,Are wont to stab my reputation,As I have truly heard.'Without another word,He made his vengeance good--Bore off the lambkin to the wood,And there, without a jury,Judged, slew, and ate her in his fury.
Words in this poem
- rill n.
- A very small brook; a streamlet. [Cf. LG. rille a small channel or brook, a furrow, a chamfer, OE. rigol a small brook, F. rigole a trench or furrow for water, W. rhill a row, rhigol a little di]
- brink n.
- The edge, margin, or border of a steep place, as of a precipice; a bank or edge, as of a river or pit; a verge; a border; as, the brink of a chasm. Also Fig. [Dan. brink edge, verge; akin to Sw. brink declivity, hill, Icel. brekka; cf. LG. brink a grassy hill, W. bryn hill, bryncyn hillock.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- cursed a.
- Deserving a curse; execrable; hateful; detestable; abominable.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book I: The Wolf and the Lamb is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Fables of La Fontaine, Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, the Elizur Wright translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Jean de La Fontaine, Book I: The Wolf and the Lamb, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/1-10.html, id L28220.
Form and metre
Book I: The Wolf and the Lamb is 36 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABAB shieldA · longestB · yieldA · strongestB
- 2 ABABCDDCEEFCFC--GGHIIHJJHHKKLLMM slakingA · rillB · takingA · killB · brinkC · ageD · rageD · drinkC · chastiseE · repliesE · passionF · thinkC · fashionF · drinkC · faces · paces · knowG · agoG · doneH · yearI · dearI · noneH · sameJ · nameJ · nationH · reputationH · heardK · wordK · goodL · woodL · juryM · furyM
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| That innocence is not a shield, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| A story teaches, not the longest. | 9 | ·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| The strongest reasons always yield | 8 | ·/˘/˘/·· |
| To reasons of the strongest. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| A lamb her thirst was slaking, | 7 | ······· |
| Once, at a mountain rill. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| A hungry wolf was taking | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| His hunt for sheep to kill, | 6 | ······ |
| When, spying on the streamlet's brink | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| This sheep of tender age, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| He howl'd in tones of rage, | 6 | ······ |
| 'How dare you roil my drink? | 6 | ······ |
| Your impudence I shall chastise!' | 8 | ·/˘˘··˘/ |
| 'Let not your majesty,' the lamb replies, | 9 | ···/˘··˘/ |
| 'Decide in haste or passion! | 7 | ˘/···/˘ |
| For sure 'tis difficult to think | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| In what respect or fashion | 7 | ··˘/·/˘ |
| My drinking here could roil your drink, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Since on the stream your majesty now faces | 10 | ·····/˘·/˘ |
| I'm lower down, full twenty paces.' | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| 'You roil it,' said the wolf; 'and, more, I know | 10 | ·········· |
| You cursed and slander'd me a year ago.' | 10 | ···/˘···˘/ |
| 'O no! how could I such a thing have done! | 10 | ·········· |
| A lamb that has not seen a year, | 8 | ········ |
| A suckling of its mother dear?' | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| 'Your brother then.' 'But brother I have none.' | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| 'Well, well, what's all the same, | 6 | ······ |
| 'Twas some one of your name. | 6 | ······ |
| Sheep, men, and dogs of every nation, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Are wont to stab my reputation, | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| As I have truly heard.' | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Without another word, | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| He made his vengeance good-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Bore off the lambkin to the wood, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And there, without a jury, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Judged, slew, and ate her in his fury. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.