Book X: The Fishes and the Cormorant
No pond nor pool within his hauntBut paid a certain cormorantIts contribution from its fishes,And stock'd his kitchen with good dishes.Yet, when old age the bird had chill'd,His kitchen was less amply fill'd.All cormorants, however grey,Must die, or for themselves purvey.But ours had now become so blind,His finny prey he could not find;And, having neither hook nor net,His appetite was poorly met.What hope, with famine thus infested?Necessity, whom history mentions,A famous mother of inventions,The following stratagem suggested:He found upon the water's brinkA crab, to which said he, 'My friend,A weighty errand let me send:Go quicker than a wink--Down to the fishes sink,And tell them they are doom'd to die;For, ere eight days have hasten'd by,Its lord will fish this water dry.'The crab, as fast as she could scrabble,Went down, and told the scaly rabble.What bustling, gathering, agitation!Straight up they send a deputationTo wait upon the ancient bird.'Sir Cormorant, whence hast thou heardThis dreadful news? And whatAssurance of it hast thou got?How such a danger can we shun?Pray tell us, what is to be done?'Why, change your dwelling-place,' said he,'What, change our dwelling! How can we?''O, by your leave, I'll take that care,And, one by one, in safety bearYou all to my retreat:The path's unknownTo any feet,Except my own.A pool, scoop'd out by Nature's hands,Amidst the desert rocks and sands,Where human traitors never come,Shall save your people from their doom.'The fish republic swallow'd all,And, coming at the fellow's call,Were singly borne away to stockA pond beneath a lonely rock;And there good prophet cormorant,Proprietor and bailiff sole,From narrow water, clear and shoal,With ease supplied his daily want,And taught them, at their own expense,That heads well stored with common senseGive no devourers confidence.--Still did the change not hurt their case,Since, had they staid, the human race,Successful by pernicious art,Would have consumed as large a part.What matters who your flesh devours,Of human or of bestial powers?In this respect, or wild or tame,All stomachs seem to me the same:The odds is small, in point of sorrow,Of death to-day, or death to-morrow.
Words in this poem 16
- amply adv.
- In an ample manner.
- purvey v. t.
- To furnish or provide, as with a convenience, provisions, or the like. [OE. purveien, porveien, OF. porveeir, porveoir, F. pourvoir, fr. L. providere. See Provide, and cf. Purview.]
- finny a.
- Having, or abounding in, fins, as fishes; pertaining to fishes.
- famine n.
- General scarcity of food; dearth; a want of provisions; destitution. [F. famine, fr. L. fames hunger; cf. Gr. hani loss, lack, ha to leave.]
- 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.]
- scrabble v. i.
- To scrape, paw, or scratch with the hands; to proceed by clawing with the hands and feet; to scramble; as, to scrabble up a cliff or a tree. [Freq. of scrape. Cf. Scramble, Scrawl, v. t.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- bustling a.
- Agitated; noisy; tumultuous; characterized by confused activity; as, a bustling crowd.
- deputation n.
- The act of deputing, or of appointing or commissioning a deputy or representative; office of a deputy or delegate; vicegerency. [Cf. F. députation. See Depute.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- amidst prep.
- In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
- 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,]
- republic n.
- Common weal. B. Jonson. [F. république, L. respublica commonwealth; res a thing, an affair + publicus, publica, public. See Real, a., and Public.]
- bestial a.
- Belonging to a beast, or to the class of beasts. [F. bestial, L. bestialis, fr. bestia beast. See Beast.]
- odds n.
- Difference in favor of one and against another; excess of one of two things or numbers over the other; inequality; advantage; superiority; hence, excess of chances; probability. [See Odd, a.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book X: The Fishes and the Cormorant 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 X: The Fishes and the Cormorant, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/10-4.html, id L28404.
Form and metre
Book X: The Fishes and the Cormorant is 67 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 51% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 AABBCCDDEEFFGHHGIJJIIKKKLLMMNN--OOPPQQRSRSTT--UUVVWXXWYYYZZaabbccdd hauntA · cormorantA · fishesB · dishesB · chill'dC · fill'dC · greyD · purveyD · blindE · findE · netF · metF · infestedG · mentionsH · inventionsH · suggestedG · brinkI · friendJ · sendJ · winkI · sinkI · dieK · byK · dryK · scrabbleL · rabbleL · agitationM · deputationM · birdN · heardN · what · got · shunO · doneO · heP · weP · careQ · bearQ · retreatR · unknownS · feetR · ownS · handsT · sandsT · come · doom · allU · callU · stockV · rockV · cormorantW · soleX · shoalX · wantW · expenseY · senseY · confidenceY · caseZ · raceZ · arta · parta · devoursb · powersb · tamec · samec · sorrowd · morrowd
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 |
|---|---|---|
| No pond nor pool within his haunt | 8 | ········ |
| But paid a certain cormorant | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Its contribution from its fishes, | 9 | ··˘/˘··/˘ |
| And stock'd his kitchen with good dishes. | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| Yet, when old age the bird had chill'd, | 8 | ········ |
| His kitchen was less amply fill'd. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| All cormorants, however grey, | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| Must die, or for themselves purvey. | 8 | ····˘/˘/ |
| But ours had now become so blind, | 8 | ·/··˘/·· |
| His finny prey he could not find; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And, having neither hook nor net, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| His appetite was poorly met. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| What hope, with famine thus infested? | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| Necessity, whom history mentions, | 9 | ˘/˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| A famous mother of inventions, | 9 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| The following stratagem suggested: | 9 | ·/˘/˘˘˘/˘ |
| He found upon the water's brink | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A crab, to which said he, 'My friend, | 8 | ········ |
| A weighty errand let me send: | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Go quicker than a wink-- | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Down to the fishes sink, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And tell them they are doom'd to die; | 8 | ········ |
| For, ere eight days have hasten'd by, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Its lord will fish this water dry.' | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The crab, as fast as she could scrabble, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Went down, and told the scaly rabble. | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| What bustling, gathering, agitation! | 9 | ·/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| Straight up they send a deputation | 9 | ········· |
| To wait upon the ancient bird. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| 'Sir Cormorant, whence hast thou heard | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| This dreadful news? And what | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Assurance of it hast thou got? | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| How such a danger can we shun? | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Pray tell us, what is to be done? | 8 | ········ |
| 'Why, change your dwelling-place,' said he, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| 'What, change our dwelling! How can we?' | 8 | ··//˘··· |
| 'O, by your leave, I'll take that care, | 8 | ········ |
| And, one by one, in safety bear | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| You all to my retreat: | 6 | ····˘/ |
| The path's unknown | 4 | ··˘/ |
| To any feet, | 4 | ·/˘· |
| Except my own. | 4 | ···· |
| A pool, scoop'd out by Nature's hands, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Amidst the desert rocks and sands, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Where human traitors never come, | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Shall save your people from their doom.' | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The fish republic swallow'd all, | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| And, coming at the fellow's call, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Were singly borne away to stock | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| A pond beneath a lonely rock; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And there good prophet cormorant, | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Proprietor and bailiff sole, | 8 | ˘/˘˘·/˘· |
| From narrow water, clear and shoal, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| With ease supplied his daily want, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| And taught them, at their own expense, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| That heads well stored with common sense | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Give no devourers confidence.-- | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Still did the change not hurt their case, | 8 | ········ |
| Since, had they staid, the human race, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Successful by pernicious art, | 8 | ˘/˘·˘/˘· |
| Would have consumed as large a part. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| What matters who your flesh devours, | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| Of human or of bestial powers? | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| In this respect, or wild or tame, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| All stomachs seem to me the same: | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The odds is small, in point of sorrow, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Of death to-day, or death to-morrow. | 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.