Book II: The Lion and the Ass Hunting
The king of animals, with royal grace,Would celebrate his birthday in the chase.'Twas not with bow and arrows,To slay some wretched sparrows;The lion hunts the wild boar of the wood,The antlered deer and stags, the fat and good.This time, the king, t' insure success,Took for his aide-de-camp an ass,A creature of stentorian voice,That felt much honour'd by the choice.The lion hid him in a proper station,And order'd him to bray, for his vocation,Assured that his tempestuous cryThe boldest beasts would terrify,And cause them from their lairs to fly.And, sooth, the horrid noise the creature madeDid strike the tenants of the wood with dread;And, as they headlong fled,All fell within the lion's ambuscade.'Has not my service gloriousMade both of us victorious?'Cried out the much-elated ass.'Yes,' said the lion; 'bravely bray'd!Had I not known yourself and race,I should have been myself afraid!'If he had dared, the donkeyHad shown himself right spunkyAt this retort, though justly made;For who could suffer boasts to passSo ill-befitting to an ass?
Words in this poem
- antlered a.
- Furnished with antlers.
- bray v. t.
- To pound, beat, rub, or grind small or fine. [OE. brayen, OF. breier, F. broyer to pound, grind, fr. OHG. brehhan to break. See Break.]
- vocation n.
- A call; a summons; a citation; especially, a designation or appointment to a particular state, business, or profession. [L. vocatio a bidding, invitation, fr. vocare to call, fr. vox, vocis, voice: cf. F. vocation. See Vocal.]
- terrify v. t.
- To make terrible. [L. terrere to frighten + -fy: cf. F. terrifier, L. terrificare. See Terrific, and -fy.]
- sooth a.
- True; faithful; trustworthy. [OE. soth, AS. s, for san; akin to OS. s, OHG. sand, Icel. sannr, Sw. sann, Dan. sand, Skr. sat, sant, real, genuine, present, being; properly p. pr. from a root]
- horrid a.
- Rough; rugged; bristling. [L. horridus. See Horror, and cf. Ordure.]
- ambuscade n.
- A lying in a wood, concealed, for the purpose of attacking an enemy by surprise. Hence: A lying in wait, and concealed in any situation, for a like purpose; a snare laid for an enemy; an ambush. [F. embuscade, fr. It. imboscata, or Sp. emboscada, fr. emboscar to ambush, fr. LL. imboscare. See Ambush, v. t.]
- glorious a.
- Exhibiting attributes, qualities, or acts that are worthy of or receive glory; noble; praiseworthy; excellent; splendid; illustrious; inspiring admiration; as, glorious deeds. [OF. glorios, glorious, F. glorieux, fr. L. gloriosus. See Glory, n.]
- donkey n.
- An ass; or (less frequently) a mule. [Prob. dun, in allusion to the color of the animal + a dim. termination.]
- spunky a.
- Full of spunk; quick; spirited.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book II: The Lion and the Ass Hunting 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 II: The Lion and the Ass Hunting, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/2-19.html, id L28251.
Form and metre
Book II: The Lion and the Ass Hunting is 30 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 53% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 AABBCC-DEEFFGGGHIIHJJDHAH--HDD graceA · chaseA · arrowsB · sparrowsB · woodC · goodC · success · assD · voiceE · choiceE · stationF · vocationF · cryG · terrifyG · flyG · madeH · dreadI · fledI · ambuscadeH · gloriousJ · victoriousJ · assD · bray'dH · raceA · afraidH · donkey · spunky · madeH · passD · assD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The king of animals, with royal grace, | 9 | ···/˘·/˘· |
| Would celebrate his birthday in the chase. | 10 | ·/˘··/···· |
| 'Twas not with bow and arrows, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| To slay some wretched sparrows; | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| The lion hunts the wild boar of the wood, | 9 | ·/······· |
| The antlered deer and stags, the fat and good. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| This time, the king, t' insure success, | 9 | ·····˘/˘/ |
| Took for his aide-de-camp an ass, | 8 | ········ |
| A creature of stentorian voice, | 9 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘· |
| That felt much honour'd by the choice. | 8 | ········ |
| The lion hid him in a proper station, | 10 | ·/····/˘/˘ |
| And order'd him to bray, for his vocation, | 11 | ·/˘·····˘/˘ |
| Assured that his tempestuous cry | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| The boldest beasts would terrify, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And cause them from their lairs to fly. | 8 | ········ |
| And, sooth, the horrid noise the creature made | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Did strike the tenants of the wood with dread; | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And, as they headlong fled, | 6 | ···/·· |
| All fell within the lion's ambuscade. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| 'Has not my service glorious | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Made both of us victorious?' | 8 | ····˘/˘˘ |
| Cried out the much-elated ass. | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| 'Yes,' said the lion; 'bravely bray'd! | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Had I not known yourself and race, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| I should have been myself afraid!' | 8 | ·····/˘/ |
| If he had dared, the donkey | 8 | ····˘·/˘ |
| Had shown himself right spunky | 7 | ··˘/·/˘ |
| At this retort, though justly made; | 8 | ··/··/˘· |
| For who could suffer boasts to pass | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| So ill-befitting to an ass? | 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.