Book XII: The Fool and the Sage
A fool pursued, with club and stone,A sage, who said, 'My friend, well done!Receive this guinea for your pains;They well deserve far higher gains.The workman's worthy of his hire,'Tis said. There comes a wealthy squire,Who hath wherewith thy works to pay;To him direct thy gifts, and theyShall gain their proper recompense.'Urged by the hope of gain,Upon the wealthy citizenThe fool repeated the offence.His pay this time was not in gold.Upon the witless manA score of ready footmen ran,And on his back, in full, his wages told.In courts, such fools afflict the wise;They raise the laugh at your expense.To check their babble, were it senseTheir folly meetly to chastise?Perhaps 'twill take a stronger man.Then make them worry one who can.
Words in this poem
- wherewith adv.
- With which; -- used relatively.
- 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,]
- offence n.
- The act of offending in any sense; esp., a crime or a sin, an affront or an injury. [F., fr. L. offensa. See Offend.]
- witless a.
- Destitute of wit or understanding; wanting thought; hence, indiscreet; not under the guidance of judgment.
- afflict v. t.
- To strike or cast down; to overthrow. [L. afflictus, p. p. of affigere to cast down, deject; ad + fligere to strike: cf. OF. aflit, afflict, p. p. Cf. Flagellate.]
- meetly adv.
- Fitly; suitably; properly.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book XII: The Fool and the Sage 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 Fool and the Sage, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/12-22.html, id L28448.
Form and metre
Book XII: The Fool and the Sage is 22 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
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 -ABBCCDDEFFEGHHGIEEIHA stone · doneA · painsB · gainsB · hireC · squireC · payD · theyD · recompenseE · gainF · citizenF · offenceE · goldG · manH · ranH · toldG · wiseI · expenseE · senseE · chastiseI · manH · canA
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 fool pursued, with club and stone, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| A sage, who said, 'My friend, well done! | 8 | ········ |
| Receive this guinea for your pains; | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| They well deserve far higher gains. | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| The workman's worthy of his hire, | 9 | ·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| 'Tis said. There comes a wealthy squire, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Who hath wherewith thy works to pay; | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| To him direct thy gifts, and they | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Shall gain their proper recompense.' | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Urged by the hope of gain, | 7 | ·˘····· |
| Upon the wealthy citizen | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| The fool repeated the offence. | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| His pay this time was not in gold. | 8 | ········ |
| Upon the witless man | 6 | ···/˘· |
| A score of ready footmen ran, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And on his back, in full, his wages told. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| In courts, such fools afflict the wise; | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| They raise the laugh at your expense. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| To check their babble, were it sense | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Their folly meetly to chastise? | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Perhaps 'twill take a stronger man. | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| Then make them worry one who can. | 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.