Book IV: The Frog and the Rat
They to bamboozle are inclined,Saith Merlin, who bamboozled are.The word, though rather unrefined,Has yet an energy we ill can spare;So by its aid I introduce my tale.A well-fed rat, rotund and hale,Not knowing either Fast or Lent,Disporting round a frog-pond went.A frog approach'd, and, with a friendly greeting,Invited him to see her at her home,And pledged a dinner worth his eating,--To which the rat was nothing loath to come.Of words persuasive there was little need:She spoke, however, of a grateful bath;Of sports and curious wonders on their path;Of rarities of flower, and rush, and reed:One day he would recount with gleeTo his assembled progenyThe various beauties of these places,The customs of the various races,And laws that sway the realms aquatic,(She did not mean the hydrostatic!)One thing alone the rat perplex'd,--He was but moderate as a swimmer.The frog this matter nicely fix'dBy kindly lending him herLong paw, which with a rush she tiedTo his; and off they started, side by side.Arrived upon the lakelet's brink,There was but little time to think.The frog leap'd in, and almost brought herBound guest to land beneath the water.Perfidious breach of law and right!She meant to have a supper warmOut of his sleek and dainty form.Already did her appetiteDwell on the morsel with delight.The gods, in anguish, he invokes;His faithless hostess rudely mocks;He struggles up, she struggles down.A kite, that hovers in the air,Inspecting everything with care,Now spies the rat belike to drown,And, with a rapid wing,Upbears the wretched thing,The frog, too, dangling by the string!The joy of such a double haulWas to the hungry kite not small.It gave him all that he could wish--A double meal of flesh and fish.
The best contrived deceitCan hurt its own contriver,And perfidy doth often cheatIts author's purse of every stiver.
Words in this poem 17
- bamboozle v. t.
- To deceive by trickery; to cajole by confusing the senses; to hoax; to mystify; to humbug. [Said to be of Gipsy origin.]
- saith
- 3d pers. sing. pres. of Say.
- merlin n.
- A small European falcon (Falco lithofalco, or F. æsalon). [OE. merlion, F. émerillon ; cf. OHG. smirl, G. schmerl ; prob. fr. L. merula blackbird. Cf. Merle.]
- rotund n.
- A rotunds. Burke.
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- loath a.
- Hateful; odious; disliked. [OE. looth, loth, AS. la hostile, odious; akin to OS. l, G. leid, Icel. lei, Sw. led, G. leiden to suffer, OHG. lidan to suffer, go, cf. AS. li to go, Goth. leip]
- 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.]
- curious a.
- Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See Cure.]
- glee n.
- Music; minstrelsy; entertainment.
- hydrostatic a.
- Of or relating to hydrostatics; pertaining to, or in accordance with, the principles of the equilibrium of fluids. [Hydro-, 1 + Gr. hydrostatique. See Static.]
- brink n.
- The edge, margin, or border of a steep place, as of a precipice; a bank or edge, as of a river or pit; a verge; a border; as, the brink of a chasm. Also Fig. [Dan. brink edge, verge; akin to Sw. brink declivity, hill, Icel. brekka; cf. LG. brink a grassy hill, W. bryn hill, bryncyn hillock.]
- dainty n.
- Value; estimation; the gratification or pleasure taken in anything. [OE. deinie, dainte, deintie, deyntee, OF. deintié delicacy, orig., dignity, honor, fr. L. dignitas, fr. dignus worthy. See Deign, and cf. Dignity.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
- hostess n.
- A female host; a woman who hospitably entertains guests at her house. [OE. hostesse, ostesse. See Host a landlord.]
- belike adv.
- It is likely or probably; perhaps. -- Be*like"ly, adv. [Pref. be- (for by) + like.]
- perfidy n.
- The act of violating faith or allegiance; violation of a promise or vow, or of trust reposed; faithlessness; teachery. [L. perfidia, fr. L. perfidus faithless; per (cf. Skr. para away) + fides faith: cf. F. perfidie. See Faith.]
- stiver n.
- A Dutch coin, and money of account, of the value of two cents, or about one penny sterling; hence, figuratively, anything of little worth. [D. stuiver; akin to G. stüber, Dan. styver, Sw. styfver.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book IV: The Frog and the Rat 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 IV: The Frog and the Rat, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/4-11.html, id L28281.
Form and metre
Book IV: The Frog and the Rat is 54 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
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 A-A-BBCCDEDEFGGF--HH------IIJJ--KLLKK--MNNMOOOPPQQ inclinedA · are · unrefinedA · spare · taleB · haleB · lentC · wentC · greetingD · homeE · eatingD · comeE · needF · bathG · pathG · reedF · glee · progeny · placesH · racesH · aquatic · hydrostatic · perplex'd · swimmer · fix'd · her · tiedI · sideI · brinkJ · thinkJ · her · water · rightK · warmL · formL · appetiteK · delightK · invokes · mocks · downM · airN · careN · drownM · wingO · thingO · stringO · haulP · smallP · wishQ · fishQ
- 2 ABAB deceitA · contriverB · cheatA · stiverB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| They to bamboozle are inclined, | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| Saith Merlin, who bamboozled are. | 8 | ·/˘···˘· |
| The word, though rather unrefined, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Has yet an energy we ill can spare; | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| So by its aid I introduce my tale. | 10 | ······˘/·· |
| A well-fed rat, rotund and hale, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Not knowing either Fast or Lent, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Disporting round a frog-pond went. | 8 | ········ |
| A frog approach'd, and, with a friendly greeting, | 11 | ··˘/···/˘/˘ |
| Invited him to see her at her home, | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| And pledged a dinner worth his eating,-- | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| To which the rat was nothing loath to come. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Of words persuasive there was little need: | 10 | ··˘/˘··/˘· |
| She spoke, however, of a grateful bath; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Of sports and curious wonders on their path; | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| Of rarities of flower, and rush, and reed: | 9 | ·/˘·/···· |
| One day he would recount with glee | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| To his assembled progeny | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘˘ |
| The various beauties of these places, | 9 | ·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| The customs of the various races, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| And laws that sway the realms aquatic, | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| (She did not mean the hydrostatic!) | 9 | ········· |
| One thing alone the rat perplex'd,-- | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| He was but moderate as a swimmer. | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| The frog this matter nicely fix'd | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| By kindly lending him her | 7 | ·/˘/˘·· |
| Long paw, which with a rush she tied | 8 | ········ |
| To his; and off they started, side by side. | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Arrived upon the lakelet's brink, | 9 | ˘/······· |
| There was but little time to think. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The frog leap'd in, and almost brought her | 9 | ·····/··· |
| Bound guest to land beneath the water. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| Perfidious breach of law and right! | 9 | ˘/˘˘····· |
| She meant to have a supper warm | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Out of his sleek and dainty form. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Already did her appetite | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘· |
| Dwell on the morsel with delight. | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| The gods, in anguish, he invokes; | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| His faithless hostess rudely mocks; | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| He struggles up, she struggles down. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| A kite, that hovers in the air, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Inspecting everything with care, | 8 | ˘/˘/˘··· |
| Now spies the rat belike to drown, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| And, with a rapid wing, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Upbears the wretched thing, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The frog, too, dangling by the string! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The joy of such a double haul | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Was to the hungry kite not small. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| It gave him all that he could wish-- | 8 | ········ |
| A double meal of flesh and fish. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The best contrived deceit | 7 | ··˘/˘˘/ |
| Can hurt its own contriver, | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| And perfidy doth often cheat | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| Its author's purse of every stiver. | 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.