Book IV: The Battle of the Rats and the Weasels
The weasels live, no more than cats,On terms of friendship with the rats;And, were it not that theseThrough doors contrive to squeezeToo narrow for their foes,The animals long-snoutedWould long ago have routed,And from the planet scoutedTheir race, as I suppose.
One year it did betide,When they were multiplied,An army took the fieldOf rats, with spear and shield,Whose crowded ranks led onA king named Ratapon.The weasels, too, their bannerUnfurl'd in warlike manner.As Fame her trumpet sounds,The victory balanced well;Enrich'd were fallow groundsWhere slaughter'd legions fell;But by said trollop's tattle,The loss of life in battleThinn'd most the rattish raceIn almost every place;And finally their routWas total, spite of stoutArtarpax and Psicarpax,And valiant Meridarpax,Who, cover'd o'er with dust,Long time sustain'd their hostDown sinking on the plain.Their efforts were in vain;Fate ruled that final hour,(Inexorable power!)And so the captains fledAs well as those they led;The princes perish'd all.The undistinguish'd smallIn certain holes found shelter,In crowding, helter-skelter;But the nobilityCould not go in so free,Who proudly had assumedEach one a helmet plumed;We know not, truly, whetherFor honour's sake the feather,Or foes to strike with terror;But, truly, 'twas their error.Nor hole, nor crack, nor creviceWill let their head-gear in;While meaner rats in beviesAn easy passage win;--So that the shafts of fateDo chiefly hit the great.
A feather in the capIs oft a great mishap.An equipage too grandComes often to a standWithin a narrow place.The small, whate'er the case,With ease slip through a strait,Where larger folks must wait.
Words in this poem
- betide v. t.
- To happen to; to befall; to come to ; as, woe betide the wanderer. [OE. bitiden; pref. bi-, be- + tiden, fr. AS. tidan, to happen, fr. tid time. See Tide.]
- tattle v. i.
- To prate; to talk idly; to use many words with little meaning; to chat. [Akin to OE. tateren, LG. tateln, D. tateren to stammer, and perhaps to E. titter.]
- valiant a.
- Vigorous in body; strong; powerful; as, a valiant fencer. [OE. valiant, F. vaillant, OF. vaillant, valant, originally p. pr. of OF. & F. valoir to be worth, L. valere to be strong. See Wield, and cf. Avail, Convalesce, ]
- mishap v. i.
- To happen unluckily; -- used impersonally.
- folks n.
- In Anglo-Saxon times, the people of a group of townships or villages; a community; a tribe. [AS. folc; akin to D. volk, OS. & OHG. folk, G. volk, Icel. f, Sw. & Dan. folk, Lith. pulkas crowd, and perh. to E. follow.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book IV: The Battle of the Rats and the Weasels 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 Battle of the Rats and the Weasels, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/4-6.html, id L28276.
Form and metre
Book IV: The Battle of the Rats and the Weasels is 63 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 70% of the lines. The metre is iambic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in iambic trimeter.
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 AABBCDD-C catsA · ratsA · theseB · squeezeB · foesC · snoutedD · routedD · scouted · supposeC
- 2 AABBCCDDEFEFFFGGHHII--JJKKLLMMNN----OOPP-Q-QRR betideA · multipliedA · fieldB · shieldB · onC · rataponC · bannerD · mannerD · soundsE · wellF · groundsE · fellF · tattleF · battleF · raceG · placeG · routH · stoutH · psicarpaxI · meridarpaxI · dust · host · plainJ · vainJ · hourK · powerK · fledL · ledL · allM · smallM · shelterN · skelterN · nobility · free · assumed · plumed · whetherO · featherO · terrorP · errorP · crevice · inQ · bevies · winQ · fateR · greatR
- 3 AABBCCDD capA · mishapA · grandB · standB · placeC · caseC · straitD · waitD
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 trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The weasels live, no more than cats, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| On terms of friendship with the rats; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And, were it not that these | 6 | ······ |
| Through doors contrive to squeeze | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Too narrow for their foes, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The animals long-snouted | 7 | ·/˘˘·/˘ |
| Would long ago have routed, | 7 | ··˘/·/˘ |
| And from the planet scouted | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| Their race, as I suppose. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| One year it did betide, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| When they were multiplied, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| An army took the field | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Of rats, with spear and shield, | 6 | ······ |
| Whose crowded ranks led on | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| A king named Ratapon. | 6 | ······ |
| The weasels, too, their banner | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Unfurl'd in warlike manner. | 7 | ˘/·/·/˘ |
| As Fame her trumpet sounds, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The victory balanced well; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| Enrich'd were fallow grounds | 6 | ˘/·/·· |
| Where slaughter'd legions fell; | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| But by said trollop's tattle, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| The loss of life in battle | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Thinn'd most the rattish race | 6 | ······ |
| In almost every place; | 6 | ·/·/˘· |
| And finally their rout | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Was total, spite of stout | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Artarpax and Psicarpax, | 7 | ······· |
| And valiant Meridarpax, | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| Who, cover'd o'er with dust, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Long time sustain'd their host | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Down sinking on the plain. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Their efforts were in vain; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Fate ruled that final hour, | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| (Inexorable power!) | 7 | ·/˘˘˘/˘ |
| And so the captains fled | 6 | ···/˘· |
| As well as those they led; | 6 | ······ |
| The princes perish'd all. | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| The undistinguish'd small | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| In certain holes found shelter, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| In crowding, helter-skelter; | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| But the nobility | 6 | ··˘/˘˘ |
| Could not go in so free, | 6 | ······ |
| Who proudly had assumed | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| Each one a helmet plumed; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| We know not, truly, whether | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| For honour's sake the feather, | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Or foes to strike with terror; | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| But, truly, 'twas their error. | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| Nor hole, nor crack, nor crevice | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Will let their head-gear in; | 6 | ······ |
| While meaner rats in bevies | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| An easy passage win;-- | 6 | ·/˘/˘· |
| So that the shafts of fate | 6 | ······ |
| Do chiefly hit the great. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| A feather in the cap | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Is oft a great mishap. | 6 | ····/· |
| An equipage too grand | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Comes often to a stand | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Within a narrow place. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| The small, whate'er the case, | 7 | ··˘˘/·· |
| With ease slip through a strait, | 6 | ······ |
| Where larger folks must wait. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
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.