Book IX: The Monkey and the Leopard
A monkey and a leopard wereThe rivals at a country fair.Each advertised his own attractions.Said one, 'Good sirs, the highest placeMy merit knows; for, of his grace,The king hath seen me face to face;And, judging by his looks and actions,I gave the best of satisfactions.When I am dead, 'tis plain enough,My skin will make his royal muff.So richly is it streak'd and spotted,So delicately waved and dotted,Its various beauty cannot fail to please.'And, thus invited, everybody sees;But soon they see, and soon depart.The monkey's show-bill to the martHis merits thus sets forth the while,All in his own peculiar style:--'Come, gentlemen, I pray you, come;In magic arts I am at home.The whole variety in whichMy neighbour boasts himself so rich,Is to his simple skin confined,While mine is living in the mind.Your humble servant, Monsieur Gille,The son-in-law to Tickleville,Pope's monkey, and of great renown,Is now just freshly come to town,Arrived in three bateaux, express,Your worships to address;For he can speak, you understand;Can dance, and practise sleight-of-hand;Can jump through hoops, and balance sticks;In short, can do a thousand tricks;And all for blancos six--Not, messieurs, for a sou.And, if you think the price won't do,When you have seen, then he'll restoreEach man his money at the door.'
The ape was not to reason blind;For who in wealth of dress can findSuch charms as dwell in wealth of mind?One meets our ever-new desires,The other in a moment tires.
Alas! how many lords there are,Of mighty sway and lofty mien,Who, like this leopard at the fair,Show all their talents on the skin!
Words in this poem
- muff n.
- A soft cover of cylindrical form, usually of fur, worn by women to shield the hands from cold. [Cf. LG. muff, D. mof, G., Dan., & Sw. muff, F. moufle mitten, LL. muffula, MHG. mouwe sleeve, D. mouw, and E. muffle, v.]
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
- mart v. t.
- To buy or sell in, or as in, a mart.
- neighbour v. i.
- To dwell in the vicinity; to be a neighbor, or in the neighborhood; to be near.
- monsieur n.
- The common title of civility in France in speaking to, or of, a man; Mr. or Sir. [Represented by the abbreviation M. or Mons. in the singular, and by MM. or Messrs. in the plural.] [F., fr. mon my + Sieur, abbrev. of seigneur lord. See Monseigneur.]
- sleight n.
- Cunning; craft; artful practice. [OE. sleighte, sleihte, sleithe, Icel. sl (for sl) slyness, cunning, fr. sl (for sl) sly, cunning. See Sly.]
- messieurs n.
- Sirs; gentlemen; -- abbreviated to Messrs., which is used as the plural of Mr. [F.; pl. of monsieur.]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- dwell v. i.
- To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book IX: The Monkey and the Leopard 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 Leopard, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/9-3.html, id L28384.
Form and metre
Book IX: The Monkey and the Leopard is 48 lines in 3 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 71% of the lines: octosyllabic couplets. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in octosyllabic couplets, 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 --ABBBAACCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOOO--PP were · fair · attractionsA · placeB · graceB · faceB · actionsA · satisfactionsA · enoughC · muffC · spottedD · dottedD · pleaseE · seesE · departF · martF · whileG · styleG · comeH · homeH · whichI · richI · confinedJ · mindJ · gilleK · ticklevilleK · renownL · townL · expressM · addressM · understandN · handN · sticksO · tricksO · sixO · sou · do · restoreP · doorP
- 2 AAABB blindA · findA · mindA · desiresB · tiresB
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A monkey and a leopard were | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The rivals at a country fair. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Each advertised his own attractions. | 9 | ·/˘···˘/˘ |
| Said one, 'Good sirs, the highest place | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| My merit knows; for, of his grace, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The king hath seen me face to face; | 8 | ········ |
| And, judging by his looks and actions, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| I gave the best of satisfactions. | 9 | ······˘/˘ |
| When I am dead, 'tis plain enough, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| My skin will make his royal muff. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| So richly is it streak'd and spotted, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| So delicately waved and dotted, | 9 | ·/˘˘˘··/˘ |
| Its various beauty cannot fail to please.' | 10 | ·/˘/˘/˘··· |
| And, thus invited, everybody sees; | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘·˘· |
| But soon they see, and soon depart. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| The monkey's show-bill to the mart | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| His merits thus sets forth the while, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| All in his own peculiar style:-- | 8 | ····˘/˘· |
| 'Come, gentlemen, I pray you, come; | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| In magic arts I am at home. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The whole variety in which | 8 | ··˘/˘˘·· |
| My neighbour boasts himself so rich, | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| Is to his simple skin confined, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| While mine is living in the mind. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Your humble servant, Monsieur Gille, | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘/· |
| The son-in-law to Tickleville, | 9 | ········· |
| Pope's monkey, and of great renown, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Is now just freshly come to town, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Arrived in three bateaux, express, | 8 | ˘/····˘/ |
| Your worships to address; | 6 | ·/˘·˘/ |
| For he can speak, you understand; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Can dance, and practise sleight-of-hand; | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Can jump through hoops, and balance sticks; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In short, can do a thousand tricks; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| And all for blancos six-- | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Not, messieurs, for a sou. | 6 | ·˘/··· |
| And, if you think the price won't do, | 8 | ········ |
| When you have seen, then he'll restore | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Each man his money at the door.' | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The ape was not to reason blind; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| For who in wealth of dress can find | 8 | ········ |
| Such charms as dwell in wealth of mind? | 8 | ········ |
| One meets our ever-new desires, | 9 | ··//˘·˘/˘ |
| The other in a moment tires. | 9 | ·/˘··/˘/˘ |
| Alas! how many lords there are, | 8 | ˘/·/˘··· |
| Of mighty sway and lofty mien, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Who, like this leopard at the fair, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Show all their talents on the skin! | 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.