Book IX: Jupiter and the Passenger
How danger would the gods enrich,If we the vows remember'd whichIt drives us to! But, danger past,Kind Providence is paid the last.No earthly debt is treated so.'Now, Jove,' the wretch exclaims, 'will wait;He sends no sheriff to one's gate,Like creditors below;'But, let me ask the dolt,What means the thunderbolt?
A passenger, endanger'd by the sea,Had vow'd a hundred oxen goodTo him who quell'd old Terra's brood.He had not one: as well might heHave vow'd a hundred elephants.Arrived on shore, his good intentsWere dwindled to the smoke which roseAn offering merely for the nose,From half a dozen beefless bones.'Great Jove,' said he, 'behold my vow!The fumes of beef thou breathest nowAre all thy godship ever owns:From debt I therefore stand acquitted.'With seeming smile, the god submitted,But not long after caught him well,By sending him a dream, to tellOf treasure hid. Off ran the liar,As if to quench a house on fire,And on a band of robbers fell.As but a crown he had that day,He promised them of sterling goldA hundred talents truly told;Directing where conceal'd they lay,In such a village on their way.The rogues so much the tale suspected,Said one, 'If we should suffer you to,You'd cheaply get us all detected;Go, then, and bear your gold to Pluto.'
Words in this poem
- jove n.
- The chief divinity of the ancient Romans; Jupiter. [L. Jupiter, gen. Jovis, OL. Jovis, nom. & gen. for Djovis; akin to E. Tuesday. See Tuesday, and cf. Jupiter.]
- thunderbolt n.
- A shaft of lightning; a brilliant stream of electricity passing from one part of the heavens to another, or from the clouds to the earth.
- godship n.
- The rank or character of a god; deity; divinity; a god or goddess. [God, n. + -ship.]
- liar n.
- A person who knowingly utters falsehood; one who lies. [OE. liere. See Lie to falsify.]
- cheaply adv.
- At a small price; at a low value; in a common or inferior manner.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book IX: Jupiter and the Passenger 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 IX: Jupiter and the Passenger, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/9-13.html, id L28394.
Form and metre
Book IX: Jupiter and the Passenger is 38 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%).
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 AABBCDDCEE enrichA · whichA · pastB · lastB · soC · waitD · gateD · belowC · doltE · thunderboltE
- 2 A--ABBCCDEEDFFGGHHGIJJIIK-K- seaA · good · brood · heA · elephantsB · intentsB · roseC · noseC · bonesD · vowE · nowE · ownsD · acquittedF · submittedF · wellG · tellG · liarH · fireH · fellG · dayI · goldJ · toldJ · layI · wayI · suspectedK · to · detectedK · pluto
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 |
|---|---|---|
| How danger would the gods enrich, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| If we the vows remember'd which | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| It drives us to! But, danger past, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Kind Providence is paid the last. | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| No earthly debt is treated so. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| 'Now, Jove,' the wretch exclaims, 'will wait; | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| He sends no sheriff to one's gate, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Like creditors below;' | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| But, let me ask the dolt, | 6 | ······ |
| What means the thunderbolt? | 6 | ···/˘· |
| A passenger, endanger'd by the sea, | 9 | ·/˘˘/˘··· |
| Had vow'd a hundred oxen good | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| To him who quell'd old Terra's brood. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| He had not one: as well might he | 8 | ········ |
| Have vow'd a hundred elephants. | 8 | ···/˘/˘˘ |
| Arrived on shore, his good intents | 8 | ˘/····˘/ |
| Were dwindled to the smoke which rose | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| An offering merely for the nose, | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| From half a dozen beefless bones. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| 'Great Jove,' said he, 'behold my vow! | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| The fumes of beef thou breathest now | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Are all thy godship ever owns: | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| From debt I therefore stand acquitted.' | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| With seeming smile, the god submitted, | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| But not long after caught him well, | 8 | ········ |
| By sending him a dream, to tell | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Of treasure hid. Off ran the liar, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| As if to quench a house on fire, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| And on a band of robbers fell. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| As but a crown he had that day, | 8 | ········ |
| He promised them of sterling gold | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| A hundred talents truly told; | 8 | ·/˘/˘/˘· |
| Directing where conceal'd they lay, | 8 | ˘/˘·˘/·· |
| In such a village on their way. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The rogues so much the tale suspected, | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| Said one, 'If we should suffer you to, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| You'd cheaply get us all detected; | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| Go, then, and bear your gold to Pluto.' | 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.