La Fontaine's fables

La Fontaine's fables

La Fontaine is popular French poet and fabulist, a teller of fables. La Fontaine’s Fables, also simply called Fables (and in the original French, Fables de La Fontaine), was translated by Elizur Wright, and published in 1882, after a previous edition from 1841 went out of print.

Born into a wealthy family in Château-Thierry in 1621, Jean de La Fontaine had a comfortable life, and was the oldest of the family. La Fontaine’s Fables were greatly influenced by those fables of Aesop. The most present element in his fables and tales is irony, and although he was inspired by others, the Fables are one of the most revered French works to date.

Content

The Ass and the Little Dog

The Ass Carrying Relics

The Ass and the Masters

The Ass Loaded with Sponges

The Ape

The Ass and the Dog

The Acorn and the Pumpkin

The Ass Dressed in Lion's Skin

The Animals Sick of the Plague

The Bat and the Two Weasels

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The Bird Wounded by an Arrow

The Battle of the Rats and Weasels

The Bear and the Two Companions

The Council Held by the Rats

The Cock and the Fox

The Camel and the Floating Sticks

The Cunning Fox

The Countryman and the Serpent

The Carter in the Mire

The Cat and the Fox

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The Cat and the Two Sparrows

The Dragon with Many Heads

Death and the Woodman

The Dove and the Ant

The Dog and His Master's Dinner

The Two Dogs and the Dead Ass

The Dog Whose Ears Were Cropped

The Ears of the Hare

The Eagle and the Magpie

Education

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The Eagle and the Owl

The Earthen Pot and the Iron Pot

The Fox, the Flies and the Hedgehog

The Fox, the Monkey and the Animals

The Fool Who Sold Wisdom

The Fox, the Wolf and the Horse

The Fox and the Turkeys

The Grasshopper and the Ant

The Hare and the Partridge

The Heifer, the Goat, and the Sheep

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The Hornets and the Bees

The Heron

The Head and the Tail of the Serpent

The Hog, the Goat and the Sheep

The Horse and the Wolf

The Joker and the Fishes

The Lion and the Ass Hunting

The Lion Going to War

The Lion and the Gnat

The Lion Beaten by the Man

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The Lion and the Hunter

The Lioness and the Bear

The Lobster and Her Daughter

The Lion and the Monkey

The Lion, the Wolf and the Fox

The Man and the Wooden God 

The Man and His Image

The Monkey and the Leopard

The Monkey and the Cat

The Mice and the Owl

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The Miser and the Monkey

Nothing Too Much

The Old Women and Her Servants

The Old Man and the Ass

The Oak and the Reed

The Oyster and the Litigants

The Old Cat and the Young Mouse

Philomel and Progne

The Ploughman and His Sons

Quarrel of the Dogs and Cats

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The Rat Retired from the World

The Rat and the Oyster

The Rat and the Elephant

The Swan and the Cook

The Shepherd and the Sea

The Shepherd and His Flock

The Shepherd and His Dog

The Sun and the Frogs

The Spider and the Swallow

The Sick Stag

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The Shepherd and the Lion

The Stag and the Vine

The Thieves and the Ass

The Tortoise and the Two Ducks

The Two Asses

The Two Mules

The Two Rats, the Fox and the Egg

The Two Bulls and the Frog

The Two Goats

The Vultures and the Pigeons

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The Wolf Accusing the Fox

The Wolf Turned Shepherd

The Weasel in the Granary

The Wax Candle

The Wolf, the Goat and the Kid

The Wolf and the Lean Dog

The Wolf and the Fox

The Woods and the Woodman

The Wallet

The Woodman and Mercury

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All illustrations Gustave Doré