Book XII: The Fox, the Wolf, and the Horse
A fox, though young, by no means raw,Had seen a horse, the first he ever saw:'Ho! neighbour wolf,' said he to one quite green,'A creature in our meadow I have seen,--Sleek, grand! I seem to see him yet,--The finest beast I ever met.''Is he a stouter one than we?'The wolf demanded, eagerly;'Some picture of him let me see.''If I could paint,' said fox, 'I should delightT' anticipate your pleasure at the sight;But come; who knows? perhaps it is a preyBy fortune offer'd in our way.'They went. The horse, turn'd loose to graze,Not liking much their looks or ways,Was just about to gallop off.'Sir,' said the fox, 'your humble servants, weMake bold to ask you what your name may be.'The horse, an animal with brains enough,Replied, 'Sirs, you yourselves may read my name;My shoer round my heel hath writ the same.'The fox excus'd himself for want of knowledge:'Me, sir, my parents did not educate,--So poor, a hole was their entire estate.My friend, the wolf, however, taught at college,Could read it were it even Greek.'The wolf, to flattery weak,Approach'd to verify the boast;For which four teeth he lost.The high raised hoof came down with such a blow,As laid him bleeding on the ground full low.'My brother,' said the fox, 'this shows how justWhat once was taught me by a fox of wit,--Which on thy jaws this animal hath writ,--"All unknown things the wise mistrust."'
Words in this poem
- neighbour v. i.
- To dwell in the vicinity; to be a neighbor, or in the neighborhood; to be near.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- shoer n.
- One who fits shoes to the feet; one who furnishes or puts on shoes; as, a shoer of horses.
- verify v. t.
- To prove to be true or correct; to establish the truth of; to confirm; to substantiate. [F. vérifier, LL. verificare, from L. verus true + -ficare to make. See Very, and -fy.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book XII: The Fox, the Wolf, and the Horse 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 Wolf, and the Horse, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/12-17.html, id L28443.
Form and metre
Book XII: The Fox, the Wolf, and the Horse is 35 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 --AABBC-CDDEEFF-GG-HH-II-JJ--KKLMML raw · saw · greenA · seenA · yetB · metB · weC · eagerly · seeC · delightD · sightD · preyE · wayE · grazeF · waysF · off · weG · beG · enough · nameH · sameH · knowledge · educateI · estateI · college · greekJ · weakJ · boast · lost · blowK · lowK · justL · witM · writM · mistrustL
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| A fox, though young, by no means raw, | 8 | ········ |
| Had seen a horse, the first he ever saw: | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| 'Ho! neighbour wolf,' said he to one quite green, | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| 'A creature in our meadow I have seen,-- | 10 | ·/˘·//···· |
| Sleek, grand! I seem to see him yet,-- | 8 | ········ |
| The finest beast I ever met.' | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| 'Is he a stouter one than we?' | 8 | ········ |
| The wolf demanded, eagerly; | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘˘ |
| 'Some picture of him let me see.' | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| 'If I could paint,' said fox, 'I should delight | 10 | ········˘/ |
| T' anticipate your pleasure at the sight; | 11 | ·˘/˘··/˘··· |
| But come; who knows? perhaps it is a prey | 10 | ····˘/···· |
| By fortune offer'd in our way.' | 9 | ·/˘/˘·/˘· |
| They went. The horse, turn'd loose to graze, | 8 | ········ |
| Not liking much their looks or ways, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Was just about to gallop off. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| 'Sir,' said the fox, 'your humble servants, we | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Make bold to ask you what your name may be.' | 10 | ·········· |
| The horse, an animal with brains enough, | 10 | ···/˘˘··˘/ |
| Replied, 'Sirs, you yourselves may read my name; | 10 | ˘/··˘/···· |
| My shoer round my heel hath writ the same.' | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| The fox excus'd himself for want of knowledge: | 11 | ··˘/˘/···/˘ |
| 'Me, sir, my parents did not educate,-- | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| So poor, a hole was their entire estate. | 10 | ······˘/˘/ |
| My friend, the wolf, however, taught at college, | 11 | ·····/˘··/˘ |
| Could read it were it even Greek.' | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The wolf, to flattery weak, | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Approach'd to verify the boast; | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| For which four teeth he lost. | 6 | ······ |
| The high raised hoof came down with such a blow, | 10 | ·········· |
| As laid him bleeding on the ground full low. | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| 'My brother,' said the fox, 'this shows how just | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| What once was taught me by a fox of wit,-- | 10 | ·········· |
| Which on thy jaws this animal hath writ,-- | 10 | ·····/˘˘·· |
| "All unknown things the wise mistrust."' | 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.