Book IX: The Fool Who Sold Wisdom
Of fools come never in the reach:No rule can I more wisely teach.Nor can there be a better oneThan this,--distemper'd heads to shun.We often see them, high and low.They tickle e'en the royal ear,As, privileged and free from fear,They hurl about them joke and jeer,At pompous lord or silly beau.
A fool, in town, did wisdom cry;The people, eager, flock'd to buy.Each for his money got,Paid promptly on the spot,Besides a box upon the head,Two fathoms' length of thread.The most were vex'd--but quite in vainThe public only mock'd their pain.The wiser they who nothing said,But pocketed the box and thread.To search the meaning of the thingWould only laughs and hisses bring.Hath reason ever guaranteedThe wit of fools in speech or deed?'Tis said of brainless heads in France,The cause of what they do is chance.One dupe, however, needs must knowWhat meant the thread, and what the blow;So ask'd a sage, to make it sure.'They're both hieroglyphics pure,'The sage replied without delay;'All people well advised will stayFrom fools this fibre's length away,Or get--I hold it sure as fate--The other symbol on the pate.So far from cheating you of gold,The fool this wisdom fairly sold.'
Words in this poem
- tickle a.
- Ticklish; easily tickled.
- promptly adv.
- In a prompt manner.
- brainless a.
- Without understanding; silly; thougthless; witless.
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
- pate n.
- A pie. See Patty. [F. pâté.]
- fairly adv.
- In a fairmanner; clearly; openly; plainly; fully; distinctly; frankly.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Book IX: The Fool Who Sold Wisdom 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 Fool Who Sold Wisdom, in The Fables of La Fontaine (1841), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7241, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/la-fontaine-fables/9-8.html, id L28389.
Form and metre
Book IX: The Fool Who Sold Wisdom is 36 lines in 2 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 96%).
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 AABBCDDDC reachA · teachA · oneB · shunB · lowC · earD · fearD · jeerD · beauC
- 2 AABBCCDDCCEEFFGGHHIIJJJKKLL cryA · buyA · gotB · spotB · headC · threadC · vainD · painD · saidC · threadC · thingE · bringE · guaranteedF · deedF · franceG · chanceG · knowH · blowH · sureI · pureI · delayJ · stayJ · awayJ · fateK · pateK · goldL · soldL
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Of fools come never in the reach: | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| No rule can I more wisely teach. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Nor can there be a better one | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Than this,--distemper'd heads to shun. | 8 | ········ |
| We often see them, high and low. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| They tickle e'en the royal ear, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| As, privileged and free from fear, | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| They hurl about them joke and jeer, | 8 | ········ |
| At pompous lord or silly beau. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| A fool, in town, did wisdom cry; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The people, eager, flock'd to buy. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Each for his money got, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Paid promptly on the spot, | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Besides a box upon the head, | 8 | ˘/······ |
| Two fathoms' length of thread. | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| The most were vex'd--but quite in vain | 8 | ········ |
| The public only mock'd their pain. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| The wiser they who nothing said, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| But pocketed the box and thread. | 8 | ·/˘˘···· |
| To search the meaning of the thing | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Would only laughs and hisses bring. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Hath reason ever guaranteed | 8 | ·/˘/˘·˘/ |
| The wit of fools in speech or deed? | 8 | ········ |
| 'Tis said of brainless heads in France, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The cause of what they do is chance. | 8 | ········ |
| One dupe, however, needs must know | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| What meant the thread, and what the blow; | 8 | ········ |
| So ask'd a sage, to make it sure. | 8 | ········ |
| 'They're both hieroglyphics pure,' | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| The sage replied without delay; | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| 'All people well advised will stay | 8 | ·/˘·˘/·· |
| From fools this fibre's length away, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| Or get--I hold it sure as fate-- | 8 | ········ |
| The other symbol on the pate. | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| So far from cheating you of gold, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The fool this wisdom fairly sold.' | 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.