Book VI: The Charlatan
The world has never lack'd its charlatans,More than themselves have lack'd their plans.One sees them on the stage at tricksWhich mock the claims of sullen Styx.What talents in the streets they post!One of them used to boastSuch mastership of eloquenceThat he could make the greatest dunceAnother Tully CiceroIn all the arts that lawyers know.'Ay, sirs, a dunce, a country clown,The greatest blockhead of your town,--Nay more, an animal, an ass,--The stupidest that nibbles grass,--Needs only through my course to pass,And he shall wear the gownWith credit, honour, and renown.'The prince heard of it, call'd the man, thus spake:'My stable holds a steedOf the Arcadian breed,Of which an orator I wish to make.''Well, sire, you can,'Replied our man.At once his majestyPaid the tuition fee.Ten years must roll, and then the learned assShould his examination pass,According to the rulesAdopted in the schools;If not, his teacher was to tread the air,With halter'd neck, above the public square,--His rhetoric bound on his back,And on his head the ears of jack.A courtier told the rhetorician,With bows and terms polite,He would not miss the sightOf that last pendent exhibition;For that his grace and dignityWould well become such high degree;And, on the point of being hung,He would bethink him of his tongue,And show the glory of his art,--The power to melt the hardest heart,--And wage a war with timeBy periods sublime--A pattern speech for orators thus leaving,Whose work is vulgarly call'd thieving.'Ah!' was the charlatan's reply,'Ere that, the king, the ass, or I,Shall, one or other of us, die.'And reason good had he;We count on life most foolishly,Though hale and hearty we may be.In each ten years, death cuts down one in three.
Words in this poem 15
- sullen a.
- Lonely; solitary; desolate. Wyclif (Job iii. 14). [OE. solein, solain, lonely, sullen; through Old French fr. (assumed) LL. solanus solitary, fr. L. solus alone. See Sole, a.]
- styx n.
- The principal river of the lower world, which had to be crossed in passing to the regions of the dead.
- mastership n.
- The state or office of a master.
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- 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,]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- steed n.
- A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
- arcadian a.
- Of or pertaining to Arcadia; pastoral; ideally rural; as, Arcadian simplicity or scenery. [L. Arcadius, Arcadicus, fr. Arcadia: cf. F. Arcadien, Arcadique.]
- sire n.
- A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
- tuition n.
- Superintending care over a young person; the particular watch and care of a tutor or guardian over his pupil or ward; guardianship. [L. tuitio protection, guarding, from tueri, p. p. tuitus, to see, watch, protect: cf. F. tuition. Cf. Tutor.]
- courtier n.
- One who is in attendance at the court of a prince; one who has an appointment at court. [From Court.]
- rhetorician n.
- One well versed in the rules and principles of rhetoric. [Cf. F. rhétoricien.]
- polite a.
- Smooth; polished. [L. politus, p. p. of polire to polish: cf. F. poli. See Polish, v.]
- wage v. i.
- To bind one's self; to engage.
- vulgarly adv.
- In a vulgar manner.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book VI: The Charlatan 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 VI: The Charlatan, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/6-19.html, id L28332.
Form and metre
Book VI: The Charlatan is 54 lines in a single stanza. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 87%).
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 AABBCC--DDEEFFFEEGHHGII--JJKKLLMMNOON--PPQQRRSSTTTT-TT charlatansA · plansA · tricksB · styxB · postC · boastC · eloquence · dunce · ciceroD · knowD · clownE · townE · assF · grassF · passF · gownE · renownE · spakeG · steedH · breedH · makeG · canI · manI · majesty · fee · assJ · passJ · rulesK · schoolsK · airL · squareL · backM · jackM · rhetoricianN · politeO · sightO · exhibitionN · dignity · degree · hungP · tongueP · artQ · heartQ · timeR · sublimeR · leavingS · thievingS · replyT · iT · dieT · heT · foolishly · beT · threeT
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The world has never lack'd its charlatans, | 9 | ···/··/˘˘ |
| More than themselves have lack'd their plans. | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| One sees them on the stage at tricks | 8 | ········ |
| Which mock the claims of sullen Styx. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| What talents in the streets they post! | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| One of them used to boast | 6 | ······ |
| Such mastership of eloquence | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘˘ |
| That he could make the greatest dunce | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Another Tully Cicero | 8 | ˘/˘/˘/˘· |
| In all the arts that lawyers know. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| 'Ay, sirs, a dunce, a country clown, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The greatest blockhead of your town,-- | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| Nay more, an animal, an ass,-- | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| The stupidest that nibbles grass,-- | 8 | ·/˘˘·/˘· |
| Needs only through my course to pass, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And he shall wear the gown | 6 | ······ |
| With credit, honour, and renown.' | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| The prince heard of it, call'd the man, thus spake: | 10 | ·········· |
| 'My stable holds a steed | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Of the Arcadian breed, | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Of which an orator I wish to make.' | 9 | ···/˘···· |
| 'Well, sire, you can,' | 5 | ·/˘·· |
| Replied our man. | 5 | ˘//˘· |
| At once his majesty | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| Paid the tuition fee. | 6 | ··˘/˘· |
| Ten years must roll, and then the learned ass | 9 | ········· |
| Should his examination pass, | 8 | ··˘·˘/˘· |
| According to the rules | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| Adopted in the schools; | 6 | ˘/˘··· |
| If not, his teacher was to tread the air, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| With halter'd neck, above the public square,-- | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| His rhetoric bound on his back, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| And on his head the ears of jack. | 8 | ········ |
| A courtier told the rhetorician, | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| With bows and terms polite, | 6 | ····˘/ |
| He would not miss the sight | 6 | ······ |
| Of that last pendent exhibition; | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| For that his grace and dignity | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Would well become such high degree; | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| And, on the point of being hung, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| He would bethink him of his tongue, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| And show the glory of his art,-- | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The power to melt the hardest heart,-- | 8 | ·/···/˘· |
| And wage a war with time | 6 | ······ |
| By periods sublime-- | 6 | ·/˘˘˘/ |
| A pattern speech for orators thus leaving, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·/˘ |
| Whose work is vulgarly call'd thieving. | 9 | ···/˘˘·/˘ |
| 'Ah!' was the charlatan's reply, | 8 | ···/˘˘˘/ |
| 'Ere that, the king, the ass, or I, | 8 | ········ |
| Shall, one or other of us, die.' | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And reason good had he; | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| We count on life most foolishly, | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| Though hale and hearty we may be. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| In each ten years, death cuts down one in three. | 10 | ·········· |
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.