Book IV: The Wolf, the Mother, and Her Child
This wolf another brings to mind,Who found dame Fortune more unkind,In that the greedy, pirate sinner,Was balk'd of life as well as dinner.As saith our tale, a villagerDwelt in a by, unguarded place;There, hungry, watch'd our pillagerFor luck and chance to mend his case.For there his thievish eyes had seenAll sorts of game go out and in--Nice sucking calves, and lambs and sheep;And turkeys by the regiment,With steps so proud, and necks so bent,They'd make a daintier glutton weep.The thief at length began to tireOf being gnaw'd by vain desire.Just then a child set up a cry:'Be still,' the mother said, 'or IWill throw you to the wolf, you brat!''Ha, ha!' thought he, 'what talk is that!The gods be thank'd for luck so good!'And ready at the door he stood,When soothingly the mother said,'Now cry no more, my little dear;That naughty wolf, if he comes here,Your dear papa shall kill him dead.''Humph!' cried the veteran mutton-eater.'Now this, now that! Now hot, now cool!Is this the way they change their metre?And do they take me for a fool?Some day, a nutting in the wood,That young one yet shall be my food.'But little time has he to doteOn such a feast; the dogs rush outAnd seize the caitiff by the throat;And country ditchers, thick and stout,With rustic spears and forks of iron,The hapless animal environ.'What brought you here, old head?' cried one.He told it all, as I have done.'Why, bless my soul!' the frantic mother said,--'You, villain, eat my little son!And did I nurse the darling boy,Your fiendish appetite to cloy?'With that they knock'd him on the head.His feet and scalp they bore to town,To grace the seigneur's hall,Where, pinn'd against the wall,This verse completed his renown:--"Ye honest wolves, believe not allThat mothers say, when children squall!"
Words in this poem 19
- dame n.
- A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam mother, Dan, Danger]
- unkind a.
- Having no race or kindred; childless. [See Kin kindred.]
- sinner n.
- One who has sinned; especially, one who has sinned without repenting; hence, a persistent and incorrigible transgressor; one condemned by the law of God.
- saith
- 3d pers. sing. pres. of Say.
- villager n.
- An inhabitant of a village.
- pillager n.
- One who pillages.
- brat n.
- A coarse garnment or cloak; also, coarse clothing, in general. [OE. bratt coarse garnment, AS. bratt cloak, fr. the Celtic; cf. W. brat clout, rag, Gael. brat cloak, apron, raf, Ir. brat cloak; properly then, a child's bib o]
- soothingly adv.
- In a soothing manner.
- naughty a.
- Having little or nothing.
- papa n.
- A child's word for father. [F. papa, L. papa; cf. Gr. Pope.]
- 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,]
- mutton n.
- A sheep. Chapman. [OE. motoun, OF. moton, molton, a sheep, wether, F. mouton, LL. multo, by transposition of l fr. L. mutilus mutilated. See Mutilate.]
- nutting n.
- The act of gathering nuts.
- dote n.
- A marriage portion. See 1st Dot, n. Wyatt. [See Dot dowry.]
- caitiff a.
- Captive; wretched; unfortunate. [OE. caitif, cheitif, captive, miserable, OF. caitif, chaitif, captive, mean, wretched, F. chétif, fr. L. captivus captive, fr. capere to take, akin to E. heave.]
- hapless a.
- Without hap or luck; luckless; unfortunate; unlucky; unhappy; as, hapless youth; hapless maid.
- environ v. t.
- To surround; to encompass; to encircle; to hem in; to be round about; to involve or envelop. [F. environner, fr. environ about, thereabout; pref. en- (L. in) + OF. viron circle, circuit, fr. OF. & F. virer to turn, LL. virare to turn up and down, topsy-t]
- fiendish a.
- Like a fiend; diabolically wicked or cruel; infernal; malignant; devilish; hellish.
- cloy v. t.
- To fill or choke up; to stop up; to clog. [OE. cloer to nail up, F. clouer, fr. OF. clo nail, F. clou, fr. L. clavus nail. Cf. 3d Clove.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book IV: The Wolf, the Mother, and Her Child 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 Wolf, the Mother, and Her Child, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/4-16.html, id L28286.
Form and metre
Book IV: The Wolf, the Mother, and Her Child is 51 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 AABBCDCDEEFGGFHHIIJJKKLMMLNONO--PQPQRRRRSRTTSUVVUVV mindA · unkindA · sinnerB · dinnerB · villagerC · placeD · pillagerC · caseD · seenE · inE · sheepF · regimentG · bentG · weepF · tireH · desireH · cryI · iI · bratJ · thatJ · goodK · stoodK · saidL · dearM · hereM · deadL · eaterN · coolO · metreN · foolO · wood · food · doteP · outQ · throatP · stoutQ · ironR · environR · oneR · doneR · saidS · sonR · boyT · cloyT · headS · townU · hallV · wallV · renownU · allV · squallV
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 |
|---|---|---|
| This wolf another brings to mind, | 8 | ··˘/˘··· |
| Who found dame Fortune more unkind, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| In that the greedy, pirate sinner, | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| Was balk'd of life as well as dinner. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| As saith our tale, a villager | 9 | ··/˘··/˘˘ |
| Dwelt in a by, unguarded place; | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| There, hungry, watch'd our pillager | 9 | ·/˘·/˘/˘˘ |
| For luck and chance to mend his case. | 8 | ········ |
| For there his thievish eyes had seen | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| All sorts of game go out and in-- | 8 | ········ |
| Nice sucking calves, and lambs and sheep; | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And turkeys by the regiment, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| With steps so proud, and necks so bent, | 8 | ········ |
| They'd make a daintier glutton weep. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The thief at length began to tire | 9 | ····˘/·/˘ |
| Of being gnaw'd by vain desire. | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| Just then a child set up a cry: | 8 | ········ |
| 'Be still,' the mother said, 'or I | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Will throw you to the wolf, you brat!' | 8 | ········ |
| 'Ha, ha!' thought he, 'what talk is that! | 8 | ········ |
| The gods be thank'd for luck so good!' | 8 | ········ |
| And ready at the door he stood, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| When soothingly the mother said, | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| 'Now cry no more, my little dear; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| That naughty wolf, if he comes here, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Your dear papa shall kill him dead.' | 8 | ··/˘···· |
| 'Humph!' cried the veteran mutton-eater. | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
| 'Now this, now that! Now hot, now cool! | 8 | ········ |
| Is this the way they change their metre? | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And do they take me for a fool? | 8 | ········ |
| Some day, a nutting in the wood, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| That young one yet shall be my food.' | 8 | ········ |
| But little time has he to dote | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| On such a feast; the dogs rush out | 8 | ········ |
| And seize the caitiff by the throat; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And country ditchers, thick and stout, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| With rustic spears and forks of iron, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| The hapless animal environ. | 9 | ·/˘/˘˘˘/˘ |
| 'What brought you here, old head?' cried one. | 8 | ········ |
| He told it all, as I have done. | 8 | ········ |
| 'Why, bless my soul!' the frantic mother said,-- | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| 'You, villain, eat my little son! | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And did I nurse the darling boy, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Your fiendish appetite to cloy?' | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| With that they knock'd him on the head. | 8 | ········ |
| His feet and scalp they bore to town, | 8 | ········ |
| To grace the seigneur's hall, | 6 | ······ |
| Where, pinn'd against the wall, | 6 | ······ |
| This verse completed his renown:-- | 8 | ··˘/˘·˘/ |
| "Ye honest wolves, believe not all | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| That mothers say, when children squall!" | 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.