Fables Choisies

Front Cover
Courier Corporation, Jan 1, 1997 - Social Science - 206 pages
First published between 1668 and 1693, the Fables of La Fontaine rank among the masterpieces of French literature. This volume contains 75 of the best, in the original French with new English line-for-line literal translations. "The Cicada and the Ant," "The City Rat and the Country Rat," "The Fox and the Grapes," many more.
 

Contents

Rab François Rabelais ca 14831553 author of Pantagruel
7
8022
10
12
27
Le lion amoureux The Lion in Love IV 1 Ae
34
Lœil du maître The Eye of the Proprietor IV 21 Ph
48
18
49
22
55
Le laboureur et ses enfants The Farmer and His Children
62
La laitière et le pot au lait The Milkmaid and the Jug of Milk
92
Le curé et le mortThe Parish Priest and the Dead Man VII 11
94
La mort et le mourant Death and the Dying Man VIII 1 Ab_104
108
Les deux amis The Two Friends VIII 11 Bi
122
Le gland et la citrouille The Acorn and the Pumpkin IX
136
Discours à Madame de la Sablière Discourse to Madame
155
Le songe dun habitant du Mogol The Dream of an Inhabitant
168
Épilogue Epilogue to Books VIIXI end of XI
178

24
65
30
75
ÉpilogueEpilogue to Books IVI end of VI
78
34
83
Le corbeau la gazelle la tortue et le rat The Raven
184
Le renard le loup et le cheval The Fox the Wolf and
192
Alphabetical List of French Titles
203
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About the author (1997)

Although he had a degree to practice law, La Fontaine does not seem to have done so but, rather, spent his life in Paris dependent on aristocratic patrons. His principal contribution to literature was his 12 books of Fables, to which he devoted 30 years of his life. They were published from 1668 to 1694 and are universally appreciated in France by children and adults alike. In drawing on a tradition of the fable going back to Aesop, La Fontaine created a portrait of human life and French society through the representations of animals. His work is marked by great insight into human moral character, while it preaches the value of the middle road.

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