Book IX: The Cat and the Fox
The cat and fox, when saints were all the rage,Together went on pilgrimage.Arch hypocrites and swindlers, they,By sleight of face and sleight of paw,Regardless both of right and law,Contrived expenses to repay,By eating many a fowl and cheese,And other tricks as bad as these.Disputing served them to beguileThe road of many a weary mile.Disputing! but for this resort,The world would go to sleep, in short.Our pilgrims, as a thing of course,Disputed till their throats were hoarse.Then, dropping to a lower tone,They talk'd of this, and talk'd of that,Till Renard whisper'd to the cat,'You think yourself a knowing one:How many cunning tricks have you?For I've a hundred, old and new,All ready in my haversack.'The cat replied, 'I do not lack,Though with but one provided;And, truth to honour, for that matter,I hold it than a thousand better.'In fresh dispute they sided;And loudly were they at it, whenApproach'd a mob of dogs and men.'Now,' said the cat, 'your tricks ransack,And put your cunning brains to rack,One life to save; I'll show you mine--A trick, you see, for saving nine.'With that, she climb'd a lofty pine.The fox his hundred ruses tried,And yet no safety found.A hundred times he falsifiedThe nose of every hound.--Was here, and there, and everywhere,Above, and under ground;But yet to stop he did not dare,Pent in a hole, it was no joke,To meet the terriers or the smoke.So, leaping into upper air,He met two dogs, that choked him there.
Expedients may be too many,Consuming time to choose and try.On one, but that as good as any,'Tis best in danger to rely.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- pilgrimage n.
- The journey of a pilgrim; a long journey; especially, a journey to a shrine or other sacred place. Fig., the journey of human life. [OE. pilgrimage, pelgrinage; cf. F. pèlerinage.]
- sleight n.
- Cunning; craft; artful practice. [OE. sleighte, sleihte, sleithe, Icel. sl (for sl) slyness, cunning, fr. sl (for sl) sly, cunning. See Sly.]
- renard n.
- A fox; -- so called in fables or familiar tales, and in poetry. [F. renard the fox, the name of the fox in a celebrated epic poem, and of German origin, G. Reinhard, OHG. Reginhard, properly, strong in counsel; regin counsel ]
- haversack n.
- A bag for oats or oatmeal. [F. havresac, G. habersack, sack for oats. See 2d Haver, and Sack a bag.]
- 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.]
- ransack v. t.
- To search thoroughly; to search every place or part of; as, to ransack a house. [OE. ransaken, Icel, rannsaka to explore, examine; rann a house (akin to Goth. razn house, AS. ræsn plank, beam) + the root of sækja to seek, akin to E. seek. Se]
- pent p. p.
- Penned or shut up; confined; -- often with up. [From Pen, v. t.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book IX: The Cat and the Fox 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: The Cat and the Fox, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/9-14.html, id L28395.
Form and metre
Book IX: The Cat and the Fox is 48 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%).
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 AABCCBDDEEFFGG-HH-IIJJK--KLLMMNNNOPOPQPQRRQQ rageA · pilgrimageA · theyB · pawC · lawC · repayB · cheeseD · theseD · beguileE · mileE · resortF · shortF · courseG · hoarseG · tone · thatH · catH · one · youI · newI · haversackJ · lackJ · providedK · matter · better · sidedK · whenL · menL · ransackM · rackM · mineN · nineN · pineN · triedO · foundP · falsifiedO · houndP · everywhereQ · groundP · dareQ · jokeR · smokeR · airQ · thereQ
- 2 ABAB manyA · tryB · anyA · relyB
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 cat and fox, when saints were all the rage, | 10 | ·········· |
| Together went on pilgrimage. | 8 | ˘/˘··/˘˘ |
| Arch hypocrites and swindlers, they, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| By sleight of face and sleight of paw, | 8 | ········ |
| Regardless both of right and law, | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| Contrived expenses to repay, | 8 | ˘/˘/˘·˘/ |
| By eating many a fowl and cheese, | 8 | ·/˘/···· |
| And other tricks as bad as these. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Disputing served them to beguile | 8 | ˘/˘···˘/ |
| The road of many a weary mile. | 8 | ···/·/˘· |
| Disputing! but for this resort, | 8 | ˘/˘···˘/ |
| The world would go to sleep, in short. | 8 | ········ |
| Our pilgrims, as a thing of course, | 8 | //˘····· |
| Disputed till their throats were hoarse. | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| Then, dropping to a lower tone, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| They talk'd of this, and talk'd of that, | 8 | ········ |
| Till Renard whisper'd to the cat, | 8 | ·˘//˘··· |
| 'You think yourself a knowing one: | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| How many cunning tricks have you? | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| For I've a hundred, old and new, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| All ready in my haversack.' | 8 | ·/˘··/˘˘ |
| The cat replied, 'I do not lack, | 8 | ··˘/···· |
| Though with but one provided; | 7 | ····˘/˘ |
| And, truth to honour, for that matter, | 9 | ···/˘··/˘ |
| I hold it than a thousand better.' | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| In fresh dispute they sided; | 7 | ··˘/·/˘ |
| And loudly were they at it, when | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Approach'd a mob of dogs and men. | 8 | ˘/······ |
| 'Now,' said the cat, 'your tricks ransack, | 8 | ······/· |
| And put your cunning brains to rack, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| One life to save; I'll show you mine-- | 8 | ········ |
| A trick, you see, for saving nine.' | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With that, she climb'd a lofty pine. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The fox his hundred ruses tried, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And yet no safety found. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| A hundred times he falsified | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The nose of every hound.-- | 7 | ···/˘˘· |
| Was here, and there, and everywhere, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Above, and under ground; | 6 | ······ |
| But yet to stop he did not dare, | 8 | ········ |
| Pent in a hole, it was no joke, | 8 | ········ |
| To meet the terriers or the smoke. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| So, leaping into upper air, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| He met two dogs, that choked him there. | 8 | ········ |
| Expedients may be too many, | 9 | ˘/˘˘···/˘ |
| Consuming time to choose and try. | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| On one, but that as good as any, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| 'Tis best in danger to rely. | 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.