Book XII: The Fox, the Flies, and the Hedgehog
A fox, old, subtle, vigilant, and sly,--By hunters wounded, fallen in the mud,--Attracted, by the traces of his blood,That buzzing parasite, the fly.He blamed the gods, and wonder'd whyThe Fates so cruelly should wishTo feast the fly on such a costly dish.'What! light on me! make me its food!Me, me, the nimblest of the wood!How long has fox-meat been so good?What serves my tail? Is it a useless weight?Go,--Heaven confound thee, greedy reprobate!--And suck thy fill from some more vulgar veins!'A hedgehog, witnessing his pains,(This fretful personageHere graces first my page,)Desired to set him freeFrom such cupidity.'My neighbour fox,' said he,My quills these rascals shall empale,And ease thy torments without fail.''Not for the world, my friend!' the fox replied.'Pray let them finish their repast.These flies are full. Should they be set aside,New hungrier swarms would finish me at last.'Consumers are too common here below,In court and camp, in church and state, we know.Old Aristotle's penetrationRemark'd our fable's application;It might more clearly in our nation.The fuller certain men are fed,The less the public will be bled.
Words in this poem
- reprobate a.
- Not enduring proof or trial; not of standard purity or fineness; disallowed; rejected. [L. reprobatus, p. p. of reprobare to disapprove, condemn. See Reprieve, Reprove.]
- cupidity n.
- A passionate desire; love. [F. cupidite, L. cupiditas, fr. cupidus longing, desiring, fr. cupere to long for, desire. See Covet.]
- neighbour v. i.
- To dwell in the vicinity; to be a neighbor, or in the neighborhood; to be near.
- 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,]
- empale v. t.
- To fence or fortify with stakes; to surround with a line of stakes for defense; to impale. [OF. empaler to palisade, pierce, F. empaler to punish by empalement; pref. em- (L. in) + OF. & F. pal a pale, stake. See Pale a stake, and cf. Impale.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book XII: The Fox, the Flies, and the Hedgehog 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 XII: The Fox, the Flies, and the Hedgehog, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/12-13.html, id L28439.
Form and metre
Book XII: The Fox, the Flies, and the Hedgehog is 32 lines in a single stanza. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic tetrameter.
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 ABBAACC-DDEEFF--G-GHHIJIJKKLLLMM slyA · mudB · bloodB · flyA · whyA · wishC · dishC · food · woodD · goodD · weightE · reprobateE · veinsF · painsF · personage · page · freeG · cupidity · heG · empaleH · failH · repliedI · repastJ · asideI · lastJ · belowK · knowK · penetrationL · applicationL · nationL · fedM · bledM
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A fox, old, subtle, vigilant, and sly,-- | 9 | ···/˘/˘·· |
| By hunters wounded, fallen in the mud,-- | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Attracted, by the traces of his blood, | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘··· |
| That buzzing parasite, the fly. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| He blamed the gods, and wonder'd why | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The Fates so cruelly should wish | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| To feast the fly on such a costly dish. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| 'What! light on me! make me its food! | 8 | ········ |
| Me, me, the nimblest of the wood! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| How long has fox-meat been so good? | 8 | ········ |
| What serves my tail? Is it a useless weight? | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Go,--Heaven confound thee, greedy reprobate!-- | 9 | ·/˘/·/˘/˘ |
| And suck thy fill from some more vulgar veins!' | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| A hedgehog, witnessing his pains, | 8 | ·/·/˘˘·· |
| (This fretful personage | 6 | ·/˘/˘˘ |
| Here graces first my page,) | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Desired to set him free | 7 | ˘/˘···· |
| From such cupidity. | 6 | ··˘/˘˘ |
| 'My neighbour fox,' said he, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| My quills these rascals shall empale, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| And ease thy torments without fail.' | 8 | ···/···· |
| 'Not for the world, my friend!' the fox replied. | 10 | ········˘/ |
| 'Pray let them finish their repast. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| These flies are full. Should they be set aside, | 10 | ········˘/ |
| New hungrier swarms would finish me at last.' | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| Consumers are too common here below, | 10 | ˘/˘··/˘··· |
| In court and camp, in church and state, we know. | 10 | ·········· |
| Old Aristotle's penetration | 9 | ·/˘·˘·˘/˘ |
| Remark'd our fable's application; | 9 | ˘///˘·˘/˘ |
| It might more clearly in our nation. | 9 | ···/˘·//˘ |
| The fuller certain men are fed, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The less the public will be bled. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
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.