Book IV: The Ass and the Little Dog
One's native talent from its courseCannot be turned aside by force;But poorly apes the country clownThe polish'd manners of the town.Their Maker chooses but a fewWith power of pleasing to imbue;Where wisely leave it we, the mass,Unlike a certain fabled ass,That thought to gain his master's blessingBy jumping on him and caressing.'What!' said the donkey in his heart;'Ought it to be that puppy's partTo lead his useless lifeIn full companionshipWith master and his wife,While I must bear the whip?What doth the cur a kiss to draw?Forsooth, he only gives his paw!If that is all there needs to please,I'll do the thing myself, with ease.'Possess'd with this bright notion,--His master sitting on his chair,At leisure in the open air,--He ambled up, with awkward motion,And put his talents to the proof;Upraised his bruised and batter'd hoof,And, with an amiable mien,His master patted on the chin,The action gracing with a word--The fondest bray that e'er was heard!O, such caressing was there ever?Or melody with such a quaver?'Ho! Martin! here! a club, a club bring!'Out cried the master, sore offended.So Martin gave the ass a drubbing,--And so the comedy was ended.
Words in this poem
- donkey n.
- An ass; or (less frequently) a mule. [Prob. dun, in allusion to the color of the animal + a dim. termination.]
- forsooth v. t.
- To address respectfully with the term forsooth.
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- amiable a.
- Lovable; lovely; pleasing. [F. amiable, L. amicabilis friendly, fr. amicus friend, fr. amare to love. The meaning has been influenced by F. aimable, L. amabilis lovable, fr. amare to love.]
- 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.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book IV: The Ass and the Little Dog 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 Ass and the Little Dog, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/4-5.html, id L28275.
Form and metre
Book IV: The Ass and the Little Dog is 36 lines in a single stanza. It is in rhyming couplets, 61% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
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 AABBCCDDEEFFGHGHIIJJKLLKMMKKNN--ONON courseA · forceA · clownB · townB · fewC · imbueC · massD · assD · blessingE · caressingE · heartF · partF · lifeG · companionshipH · wifeG · whipH · drawI · pawI · pleaseJ · easeJ · notionK · chairL · airL · motionK · proofM · hoofM · mienK · chinK · wordN · heardN · ever · quaver · bringO · offendedN · drubbingO · endedN
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 |
|---|---|---|
| One's native talent from its course | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Cannot be turned aside by force; | 8 | ˘/··˘/·· |
| But poorly apes the country clown | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The polish'd manners of the town. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Their Maker chooses but a few | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| With power of pleasing to imbue; | 8 | ·/·/˘·˘/ |
| Where wisely leave it we, the mass, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Unlike a certain fabled ass, | 8 | ˘/·/˘/˘· |
| That thought to gain his master's blessing | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| By jumping on him and caressing. | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| 'What!' said the donkey in his heart; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| 'Ought it to be that puppy's part | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| To lead his useless life | 6 | ···/˘· |
| In full companionship | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| With master and his wife, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| While I must bear the whip? | 6 | ······ |
| What doth the cur a kiss to draw? | 8 | ········ |
| Forsooth, he only gives his paw! | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| If that is all there needs to please, | 8 | ········ |
| I'll do the thing myself, with ease.' | 8 | ·····/·· |
| Possess'd with this bright notion,-- | 7 | ˘/···/˘ |
| His master sitting on his chair, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| At leisure in the open air,-- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| He ambled up, with awkward motion, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| And put his talents to the proof; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Upraised his bruised and batter'd hoof, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And, with an amiable mien, | 8 | ···/˘˘˘· |
| His master patted on the chin, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The action gracing with a word-- | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The fondest bray that e'er was heard! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| O, such caressing was there ever? | 9 | ··˘/˘··/˘ |
| Or melody with such a quaver? | 9 | ·/˘˘···/˘ |
| 'Ho! Martin! here! a club, a club bring!' | 9 | ·/˘······ |
| Out cried the master, sore offended. | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| So Martin gave the ass a drubbing,-- | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| And so the comedy was ended. | 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.