Book III: The Wolf Turned Shepherd
A wolf, whose gettings from the flocksBegan to be but few,Bethought himself to play the foxIn character quite new.A shepherd's hat and coat he took,A cudgel for a crook,Nor e'en the pipe forgot:And more to seem what he was not,Himself upon his hat he wrote,'I'm Willie, shepherd of these sheep.'His person thus complete,His crook in upraised feet,The impostor Willie stole upon the keep.The real Willie, on the grass asleep,Slept there, indeed, profoundly,His dog and pipe slept, also soundly;His drowsy sheep around lay.As for the greatest number,Much bless'd the hypocrite their slumber,And hoped to drive away the flock,Could he the shepherd's voice but mock.He thought undoubtedly he could.He tried: the tone in which he spoke,Loud echoing from the wood,The plot and slumber broke;Sheep, dog, and man awoke.The wolf, in sorry plight,In hampering coat bedight,Could neither run nor fight.
There's always leakage of deceitWhich makes it never safe to cheat.Whoever is a wolf had betterKeep clear of hypocritic fetter.
Words in this poem
- wrote v. i.
- To root with the snout. See 1st Root. [OE. wroten. See 1st Root.]
- stole n.
- A long, loose garment reaching to the feet. [AS. stole, L. stola, Gr. stall. See Stall.]
- profoundly adv.
- In a profound manner.
- spoke n.
- The radius or ray of a wheel; one of the small bars which are inserted in the hub, or nave, and which serve to support the rim or felly. [OE. spoke, spake, AS, spaca; akin to D. speek, LG. speke, OHG. speihha, G. speiche. sq. root170. Cf. Spike a nail.]
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- plight v. t.
- To weave; to braid; to fold; to plait. [OE. pliten; probably through Old French, fr. LL. plectare, L. plectere. See Plait, Ply.]
- bedight v. t.
- To bedeck; to array or equip; to adorn.
- leakage n.
- A leaking; also, the quantity that enters or issues by leaking. [Cf. D. lekkage, for sense 1.]
- whoever pron.
- Whatever person; any person who; be or she who; any one who; as, he shall be punished, whoever he may be.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book III: The Wolf Turned Shepherd 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 III: The Wolf Turned Shepherd, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/3-3.html, id L28255.
Form and metre
Book III: The Wolf Turned Shepherd is 33 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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 ABABCCDD-EFFEEGG-HHIIJKJKKLLL flocksA · fewB · foxA · newB · tookC · crookC · forgotD · notD · wrote · sheepE · completeF · feetF · keepE · asleepE · profoundlyG · soundlyG · lay · numberH · slumberH · flockI · mockI · couldJ · spokeK · woodJ · brokeK · awokeK · plightL · bedightL · fightL
- 2 AABB deceitA · cheatA · betterB · fetterB
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 wolf, whose gettings from the flocks | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Began to be but few, | 6 | ˘/···· |
| Bethought himself to play the fox | 8 | ˘/˘/···· |
| In character quite new. | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| A shepherd's hat and coat he took, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| A cudgel for a crook, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Nor e'en the pipe forgot: | 6 | ····˘/ |
| And more to seem what he was not, | 8 | ········ |
| Himself upon his hat he wrote, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| 'I'm Willie, shepherd of these sheep.' | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| His person thus complete, | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| His crook in upraised feet, | 6 | ······ |
| The impostor Willie stole upon the keep. | 11 | ·˘/˘/˘····· |
| The real Willie, on the grass asleep, | 9 | ··/˘···˘/ |
| Slept there, indeed, profoundly, | 7 | ··˘/˘/˘ |
| His dog and pipe slept, also soundly; | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| His drowsy sheep around lay. | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| As for the greatest number, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Much bless'd the hypocrite their slumber, | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| And hoped to drive away the flock, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Could he the shepherd's voice but mock. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| He thought undoubtedly he could. | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| He tried: the tone in which he spoke, | 8 | ········ |
| Loud echoing from the wood, | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| The plot and slumber broke; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Sheep, dog, and man awoke. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| The wolf, in sorry plight, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| In hampering coat bedight, | 7 | ·/˘˘·˘/ |
| Could neither run nor fight. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| There's always leakage of deceit | 8 | ·/·/˘·˘/ |
| Which makes it never safe to cheat. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Whoever is a wolf had better | 9 | ˘/˘····/˘ |
| Keep clear of hypocritic fetter. | 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.