Book IX: The Monkey and the Cat
Sly Bertrand and Ratto in company sat,(The one was a monkey, the other a cat,)Co-servants and lodgers:More mischievous codgersNe'er mess'd from a platter, since platters were flat.Was anything wrong in the house or about it,The neighbours were blameless,--no mortal could doubt it;For Bertrand was thievish, and Ratto so nice,More attentive to cheese than he was to the mice.One day the two plunderers sat by the fire,Where chestnuts were roasting, with looks of desire.To steal them would be a right noble affair.A double inducement our heroes drew there--'Twould benefit them, could they swallow their fill,And then 'twould occasion to somebody ill.Said Bertrand to Ratto, 'My brother, to-dayExhibit your powers in a masterly way,And take me these chestnuts, I pray.Which were I but otherwise fitted(As I am ingeniously witted)For pulling things out of the flame,Would stand but a pitiful game.'''Tis done,' replied Ratto, all prompt to obey;And thrust out his paw in a delicate way.First giving the ashes a scratch,He open'd the coveted batch;Then lightly and quickly impinging,He drew out, in spite of the singeing,One after another, the chestnuts at last,--While Bertrand contrived to devour them as fast.A servant girl enters. Adieu to the fun.Our Ratto was hardly contented, says one.--
No more are the princes, by flattery paidFor furnishing help in a different trade,And burning their fingers to bringMore power to some mightier king.
Words in this poem
- platter n.
- One who plats or braids. [From Plat to braid.]
- inducement n.
- The act of inducing, or the state of being induced. [From Induce.]
- somebody n.
- A person unknown or uncertain; a person indeterminate; some person.
- ingeniously adv.
- In an ingenious manner; with ingenuity; skillfully; wittily; cleverly.
- batch n.
- The quantity of bread baked at one time. [OE. bache, bacche, fr. AS. bacan to bake; cf. G. gebäck and D. baksel. See Bake, v. t.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book IX: The Monkey and the Cat 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 Monkey and the Cat, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/9-17.html, id L28398.
Form and metre
Book IX: The Monkey and the Cat is 36 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is anapaestic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in anapaestic 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 AABBA--CCDDEEFFGGG--HHIIJJKKLLMM satA · catA · lodgersB · codgersB · flatA · it · it · niceC · miceC · fireD · desireD · affairE · thereE · fillF · illF · dayG · wayG · prayG · fitted · witted · flameH · gameH · obeyI · wayI · scratchJ · batchJ · impingingK · singeingK · lastL · fastL · funM · oneM
- 2 AABB paidA · tradeA · bringB · kingB
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 anapaestic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Sly Bertrand and Ratto in company sat, | 10 | ·/˘····/˘· |
| (The one was a monkey, the other a cat,) | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| Co-servants and lodgers: | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| More mischievous codgers | 6 | ·/˘˘·· |
| Ne'er mess'd from a platter, since platters were flat. | 11 | ····/˘·/˘·· |
| Was anything wrong in the house or about it, | 12 | ·/˘········· |
| The neighbours were blameless,--no mortal could doubt it; | 12 | ·/˘·/˘·/˘··· |
| For Bertrand was thievish, and Ratto so nice, | 11 | ·/˘·/˘····· |
| More attentive to cheese than he was to the mice. | 12 | ·˘/˘········ |
| One day the two plunderers sat by the fire, | 11 | ··········/ |
| Where chestnuts were roasting, with looks of desire. | 11 | ·/˘·/˘···˘/ |
| To steal them would be a right noble affair. | 11 | ·······/˘˘/ |
| A double inducement our heroes drew there-- | 11 | ·/˘˘/˘//˘·· |
| 'Twould benefit them, could they swallow their fill, | 10 | ·/˘···/˘·· |
| And then 'twould occasion to somebody ill. | 11 | ···˘/˘·/·˘· |
| Said Bertrand to Ratto, 'My brother, to-day | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| Exhibit your powers in a masterly way, | 10 | ˘/˘·/··/˘· |
| And take me these chestnuts, I pray. | 8 | ····/˘·· |
| Which were I but otherwise fitted | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| (As I am ingeniously witted) | 9 | ···˘/˘˘/˘ |
| For pulling things out of the flame, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Would stand but a pitiful game.' | 8 | ····/˘˘· |
| ''Tis done,' replied Ratto, all prompt to obey; | 11 | ··˘/·····˘/ |
| And thrust out his paw in a delicate way. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| First giving the ashes a scratch, | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| He open'd the coveted batch; | 8 | ·/˘·/˘˘· |
| Then lightly and quickly impinging, | 9 | ·/˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| He drew out, in spite of the singeing, | 9 | ·······/˘ |
| One after another, the chestnuts at last,-- | 11 | ···˘/˘·/˘·· |
| While Bertrand contrived to devour them as fast. | 11 | ·/˘˘/·˘/··· |
| A servant girl enters. Adieu to the fun. | 11 | ·/˘·/˘˘/··· |
| Our Ratto was hardly contented, says one.-- | 11 | /···/˘˘/˘·· |
| No more are the princes, by flattery paid | 10 | ····/˘·/˘· |
| For furnishing help in a different trade, | 9 | ·/˘···/˘· |
| And burning their fingers to bring | 8 | ·/˘·/˘·· |
| More power to some mightier king. | 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.