Book VIII: The Dog That Carried His Master's Dinner
Our eyes are not made proof against the fair,Nor hands against the touch of gold.Fidelity is sadly rare,And has been from the days of old.Well taught his appetite to check,And do full many a handy trick,A dog was trotting, light and quick,His master's dinner on his neck.A temperate, self-denying dog was he,More than, with such a load, he liked to be.But still he was, while many such as weWould not have scrupled to make free.Strange that to dogs a virtue you may teach,Which, do your best, to men you vainly preach!This dog of ours, thus richly fitted out,A mastiff met, who wish'd the meat, no doubt.To get it was less easy than he thought:The porter laid it down and fought.Meantime some other dogs arrive:Such dogs are always thick enough,And, fearing neither kick nor cuff,Upon the public thrive.Our hero, thus o'ermatch'd and press'd,--The meat in danger manifest,--Is fain to share it with the rest;And, looking very calm and wise,'No anger, gentlemen,' he cries:'My morsel will myself suffice;The rest shall be your welcome prize.'With this, the first his charge to violate,He snaps a mouthful from his freight.Then follow mastiff, cur, and pup,Till all is cleanly eaten up.Not sparingly the party feasted,And not a dog of all but tasted.
In some such manner men abuseOf towns and states the revenues.The sheriffs, aldermen, and mayor,Come in for each a liberal share.The strongest gives the rest example:'Tis sport to see with what a zestThey sweep and lick the public chestOf all its funds, however ample.If any commonweal's defenderShould dare to say a single word,He's shown his scruples are absurd,And finds it easy to surrender--Perhaps, to be the first offender.
Words in this poem
- sadly adv.
- Wearily; heavily; firmly.
- handy a.
- Performed by the hand. [OE. hendi, AS. hendig (in comp.), fr. hand hand; akin to D. handig, Goth. handugs clever, wise.]
- cuff v. t.
- To strike; esp., to smite with the palm or flat of the hand; to slap. [Cf. Sw. kuffa to knock, push,kufva to check, subdue, and E. cow, v. t.]
- fain v. t.
- To be glad ; to wish or desire.
- suffice v. i.
- To be enough, or sufficient; to meet the need (of anything); to be equal to the end proposed; to be adequate. [OE. suffisen, OF. soufire, F. suffire (cf. suffisant, p.pr.), L. sufficere to put under, to substitute, to avail for, to suffice; sub under + facere to make. Se]
- 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,]
- mouthful n.
- As much as is usually put into the mouth at one time.
- cleanly a.
- Habitually clean; pure; innocent. [From Clean.]
- zest n.
- A piece of orange or lemon peel, or the aromatic oil which may be squeezed from such peel, used to give flavor to liquor, etc. [F. zeste, probably fr. L. schistos split, cleft, divided, Gr. Schism.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book VIII: The Dog That Carried His Master's Dinner 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 Dog That Carried His Master's Dinner, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/8-7.html, id L28361.
Form and metre
Book VIII: The Dog That Carried His Master's Dinner is 48 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%).
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 ABABCDDCEEEEFFGGHHIJJIKKKLL-LMMNN-- fairA · goldB · rareA · oldB · checkC · trickD · quickD · neckC · heE · beE · weE · freeE · teachF · preachF · outG · doubtG · thoughtH · foughtH · arriveI · enoughJ · cuffJ · thriveI · press'dK · manifestK · restK · wiseL · criesL · suffice · prizeL · violateM · freightM · pupN · upN · feasted · tasted
- 2 AA--BCCBDEEDD abuseA · revenuesA · mayor · share · exampleB · zestC · chestC · ampleB · defenderD · wordE · absurdE · surrenderD · offenderD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Our eyes are not made proof against the fair, | 10 | /········· |
| Nor hands against the touch of gold. | 8 | ········ |
| Fidelity is sadly rare, | 8 | ˘/˘˘·/˘· |
| And has been from the days of old. | 8 | ········ |
| Well taught his appetite to check, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| And do full many a handy trick, | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| A dog was trotting, light and quick, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| His master's dinner on his neck. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| A temperate, self-denying dog was he, | 10 | ·/˘·˘/˘··· |
| More than, with such a load, he liked to be. | 10 | ·········· |
| But still he was, while many such as we | 9 | ·····/··· |
| Would not have scrupled to make free. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Strange that to dogs a virtue you may teach, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Which, do your best, to men you vainly preach! | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| This dog of ours, thus richly fitted out, | 10 | ···/·/˘/˘· |
| A mastiff met, who wish'd the meat, no doubt. | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| To get it was less easy than he thought: | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| The porter laid it down and fought. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Meantime some other dogs arrive: | 8 | /··/˘·˘/ |
| Such dogs are always thick enough, | 8 | ···/··˘/ |
| And, fearing neither kick nor cuff, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Upon the public thrive. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Our hero, thus o'ermatch'd and press'd,-- | 8 | //˘····· |
| The meat in danger manifest,-- | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Is fain to share it with the rest; | 8 | ········ |
| And, looking very calm and wise, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| 'No anger, gentlemen,' he cries: | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| 'My morsel will myself suffice; | 8 | ·/˘··/˘/ |
| The rest shall be your welcome prize.' | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With this, the first his charge to violate, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| He snaps a mouthful from his freight. | 8 | ···/···· |
| Then follow mastiff, cur, and pup, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Till all is cleanly eaten up. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Not sparingly the party feasted, | 9 | ·/˘˘·/˘/˘ |
| And not a dog of all but tasted. | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| In some such manner men abuse | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Of towns and states the revenues. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The sheriffs, aldermen, and mayor, | 9 | ·/˘/˘˘·/˘ |
| Come in for each a liberal share. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The strongest gives the rest example: | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| 'Tis sport to see with what a zest | 8 | ········ |
| They sweep and lick the public chest | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Of all its funds, however ample. | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| If any commonweal's defender | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| Should dare to say a single word, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| He's shown his scruples are absurd, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| And finds it easy to surrender-- | 9 | ···/˘·˘/˘ |
| Perhaps, to be the first offender. | 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.