Book VIII: Education
Lapluck and Caesar brothers were, descendedFrom dogs by Fame the most commended,Who falling, in their puppyhood,To different masters anciently,One dwelt and hunted in the boundless wood;From thieves the other kept a kitchen free.At first, each had another name;But, by their bringing up, it came,While one improved upon his nature,The other grew a sordid creature,Till, by some scullion called Lapluck,The name ungracious ever stuck.To high exploits his brother grew,Put many a stag at bay, and toreFull many a trophy from the boar;In short, him first, of all his crew,The world as Caesar knew;And care was had, lest, by a baser mate,His noble blood should e'er degenerate.Not so with his neglected brother;He made whatever came a mother;And, by the laws of population,His race became a countless nation--The common turnspits throughout France--Where danger is, they don't advance--Precisely the antipodesOf what we call the Caesars, these!
Oft falls the son below his sire's estate:Through want of care all things degenerate.For lack of nursing Nature and her gifts.What crowds from gods become mere kitchen-thrifts!
Words in this poem
- puppyhood n.
- The time or state of being a puppy; the time of being young and undisciplined.
- sordid a.
- Filthy; foul; dirty. [L. sordidus, fr. sordere to be filthy or dirty; probably akin to E. swart: cf. F. sordide. See Swart, a.]
- scullion n.
- A servant who cleans pots and kettles, and does other menial services in the kitchen. [OF. escouillon (Cot.) a dishclout, apparently for escouvillon, F. écouvillon a swab; cf. also OF. souillon a servant employed for base offices. Cf. Scovel.]
- ungracious a.
- Not gracious; showing no grace or kindness; being without good will; unfeeling.
- tore n.
- The dead grass that remains on mowing land in winter and spring. Mortimer. [Probably from the root of tear; cf. W. tór a break, cut, tóri to break, cut.]
- trophy n.
- A sign or memorial of a victory raised on the field of battle, or, in case of a naval victory, on the nearest land. Sometimes trophies were erected in the chief city of the conquered people. [F. trophée (cf. It. & Sp. trofeo), L. tropaeum, trophaeum, Gr. Trope.]
- countless a.
- Incapable of being counted; not ascertainable; innumerable.
- antipodes n.
- Those who live on the side of the globe diametrically opposite.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book VIII: Education 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: Education, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/8-24.html, id L28378.
Form and metre
Book VIII: Education is 31 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 AAB-B-CC--DDEFFEEGGHHIIJJ-- descendedA · commendedA · puppyhoodB · anciently · woodB · free · nameC · cameC · nature · creature · lapluckD · stuckD · grewE · toreF · boarF · crewE · knewE · mateG · degenerateG · brotherH · motherH · populationI · nationI · franceJ · advanceJ · antipodes · these
- 2 AABB estateA · degenerateA · giftsB · thriftsB
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Lapluck and Caesar brothers were, descended | 11 | ···/˘/˘·˘/˘ |
| From dogs by Fame the most commended, | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Who falling, in their puppyhood, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| To different masters anciently, | 9 | ·/˘˘/˘/˘˘ |
| One dwelt and hunted in the boundless wood; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| From thieves the other kept a kitchen free. | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| At first, each had another name; | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| But, by their bringing up, it came, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| While one improved upon his nature, | 9 | ··˘/···/˘ |
| The other grew a sordid creature, | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Till, by some scullion called Lapluck, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The name ungracious ever stuck. | 8 | ··˘/˘/˘· |
| To high exploits his brother grew, | 8 | ··/··/˘· |
| Put many a stag at bay, and tore | 8 | ·/······ |
| Full many a trophy from the boar; | 8 | ·/·/˘··· |
| In short, him first, of all his crew, | 8 | ········ |
| The world as Caesar knew; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| And care was had, lest, by a baser mate, | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| His noble blood should e'er degenerate. | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| Not so with his neglected brother; | 9 | ····˘/˘/˘ |
| He made whatever came a mother; | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| And, by the laws of population, | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| His race became a countless nation-- | 9 | ··˘/·/˘/˘ |
| The common turnspits throughout France-- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Where danger is, they don't advance-- | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Precisely the antipodes | 8 | ˘/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Of what we call the Caesars, these! | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Oft falls the son below his sire's estate: | 10 | ········˘/ |
| Through want of care all things degenerate. | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| For lack of nursing Nature and her gifts. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| What crowds from gods become mere kitchen-thrifts! | 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.