Book VIII: The Two Friends
Two friends, in Monomotapa,Had all their interests combined.Their friendship, faithful and refined,Our country can't exceed, do what it may.One night, when potent Sleep had laidAll still within our planet's shade,One of the two gets up alarm'd,Runs over to the other's palace,And hastily the servants rallies.His startled friend, quick arm'd,With purse and sword his comrade meets,And thus right kindly greets:--'Thou seldom com'st at such an hour;I take thee for a man of sounder mindThan to abuse the time for sleep design'd.Hast lost thy purse, by Fortune's power?Here's mine. Hast suffer'd insult, or a blow,I've here my sword--to avenge it let us go.''No,' said his friend, 'no need I feelOf either silver, gold, or steel;I thank thee for thy friendly zeal.In sleep I saw thee rather sad,And thought the truth might be as bad.Unable to endure the fear,That cursed dream has brought me here.'
Which think you, reader, loved the most!If doubtful this, one truth may be proposed:There's nothing sweeter than a real friend:Not only is he prompt to lend--An angler delicate, he fishesThe very deepest of your wishes,And spares your modesty the taskHis friendly aid to ask.A dream, a shadow, wakes his fear,When pointing at the object dear.
Words in this poem
- sounder n.
- One who, or that which; sounds; specifically, an instrument used in telegraphy in place of a register, the communications being read by sound.
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- thank n.
- A expression of gratitude; an acknowledgment expressive of a sense of favor or kindness received; obligation, claim, or desert, or gratitude; -- now generally used in the plural. [AS. Þanc, Þonc, thanks, favor, thought; akin to OS. thank favor, pleasure, thanks, D. & G. dank thanks, Icel. Þ\'94kk, Dan. tak, Sw. tack, Goth. Þagks thanks; -]
- cursed a.
- Deserving a curse; execrable; hateful; detestable; abominable.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book VIII: The Two Friends 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 VIII: The Two Friends, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/8-11.html, id L28365.
Form and metre
Book VIII: The Two Friends is 35 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 -AA-BBC--CDDEAAEFFGGGHHII monomotapa · combinedA · refinedA · may · laidB · shadeB · alarm'dC · palace · rallies · arm'dC · meetsD · greetsD · hourE · mindA · design'dA · powerE · blowF · goF · feelG · steelG · zealG · sadH · badH · fearI · hereI
- 2 AABBCCDDEE mostA · proposedA · friendB · lendB · fishesC · wishesC · taskD · askD · fearE · dearE
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Two friends, in Monomotapa, | 8 | ········ |
| Had all their interests combined. | 8 | ···/˘˘/˘ |
| Their friendship, faithful and refined, | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Our country can't exceed, do what it may. | 10 | //˘·˘/···· |
| One night, when potent Sleep had laid | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| All still within our planet's shade, | 8 | ····//˘· |
| One of the two gets up alarm'd, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Runs over to the other's palace, | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| And hastily the servants rallies. | 9 | ·/˘˘·/˘/˘ |
| His startled friend, quick arm'd, | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| With purse and sword his comrade meets, | 8 | ·····/·· |
| And thus right kindly greets:-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| 'Thou seldom com'st at such an hour; | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| I take thee for a man of sounder mind | 9 | ·······/· |
| Than to abuse the time for sleep design'd. | 10 | ··˘/····˘/ |
| Hast lost thy purse, by Fortune's power? | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Here's mine. Hast suffer'd insult, or a blow, | 10 | ···/˘/···· |
| I've here my sword--to avenge it let us go.' | 11 | ·····˘/···· |
| 'No,' said his friend, 'no need I feel | 8 | ········ |
| Of either silver, gold, or steel; | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| I thank thee for thy friendly zeal. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In sleep I saw thee rather sad, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And thought the truth might be as bad. | 8 | ········ |
| Unable to endure the fear, | 8 | ˘/˘·˘/·· |
| That cursed dream has brought me here.' | 8 | ··˘····· |
| Which think you, reader, loved the most! | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| If doubtful this, one truth may be proposed: | 10 | ·/˘·····˘/ |
| There's nothing sweeter than a real friend: | 9 | ·/˘/˘···· |
| Not only is he prompt to lend-- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| An angler delicate, he fishes | 9 | ·/˘/˘˘·/˘ |
| The very deepest of your wishes, | 9 | ·/˘/˘··/˘ |
| And spares your modesty the task | 8 | ···/˘˘·· |
| His friendly aid to ask. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| A dream, a shadow, wakes his fear, | 8 | ···/···· |
| When pointing at the object dear. | 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.