Fables
by Jean de La Fontaine
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Description
Charming and elegant, Jean de La Fontaine's (1621-1695) animal fables depict sly foxes and scheming cats, vain birds and greedy wolves, all of which subtly express his penetrating insights into French society and the beasts found in all of us. Norman R. Shapiro has been translating La Fontaine's fables for over twenty years, capturing the original works' lively mix of plain and archaic language. This newly complete collection is destined to set the English standard for the oeuvre of one of show more the world's greatest fabulists. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
It was interesting to see how La Fontaine's fables evolved throughout his life. I think the ones in the middle were my favorites. The ones at the beginning were very simple, and the ones at the end were too complex. I did like reading them in verse better than Aesop's prose.
As fábulas até mereciam 4 estrelas, mas os desenhos toscos do superestimado Chagall são duros de agüentar.
Voici un choix délectable de quarante-deux fables, celles que vous croyez connaître déjà si bien, celles que vous avez envie de retrouver, celles que vous découvrirez. Toute la saveur, la drôlerie et la sagesse de La Fontaine, mises en scène par Roland et Claudine Sabatier. Au format de vos poches et tout en couleurs.
Clever and fun to read. Great for French beginners.
Wonderful artwork, fascinating modern interpretation of the poetry.
A French adaptation of Aesop plus folk tales. Quite charming.
Set text for anyone, not only in France, not only in Europe. Universally.
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Author Information
617+ Works 4,945 Members
Some Editions
Awards and Honors
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Is contained in
Contains
Has the adaptation
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title*
- Die Fabeln
- Original title
- Les fables de La Fontaine. Version intégrale
- Original publication date
- 1668 (I-VI) (I-VI); 1678-1679 (VII-XI) (VII-XI); 1692 (4 vol., I-XI) (4 vol., I-XI); 1693 (XII) (XII); 1694
- Important places*
- Château-Thierry, Hauts-de-France, Frankreich
- First words*
- Grillchen, das den Sommer lang
zirpt' und sang,
litt, da nun der Winter droht,,
harte Zeit und bittre Not:
nicht das kleinste Würmchen nur,
und von Fliegen keine Spur! - Quotations
- Dans un chemin montant, sablonneux, malaisé
/Et de tous les côtés au soleil exposé,/
Six forts chevaux tiraient un coche.
(Le coche et la mouche)
Un lièvre en son gîte songeait./
(Car que faire en un gîte à moins que l'on ne songe?)
(Le lièvre et les grenouilles)
Un Savetier chantait du matin jusqu'au soir :/
C'était merveilles de le voir,/
Merveilles de l'ouïr ; il faisait des passages,/
Plus content qu'aucun des sept sages./
Son voisin au contraire, étant tout cousu d... (show all)'or,/
Chantait peu, dormait moins encor./
C'était un homme de finance./
Si sur le point du jour parfois il sommeillait,/
Le Savetier alors en chantant l'éveillait,/
Et le Financier se plaignait,/
Que les soins de la Providence/
N'eussent pas au marché fait vendre le dormir,/
Comme le manger et le boire. - Last words*
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Mit dieser Lehre find' auch dieses Buch ein Ende;
brächt' künft'gen Zeiten sie nur Vorteil und Genuss!
Den Fürsten leg' ich sie, den Weisen in den Hände.
Wo fänd' ich einen bessern Schluss? - Original language
- French
- Disambiguation notice
- This book is "Fables" or "The Fables" written by the French author Jean de La Fontaine. These are not the same as Aesop's Fables. Do not combine Aesop's Fables with La Fontaine's Fables.
Do not combine with selections from... (show all) Fontaine's fables, or re-tellings.
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genres
- Poetry, Fiction and Literature, Children's Books
- DDC/MDS
- 841.4 — Literature & rhetoric French & related literatures French poetry Classic period 1600–1715
- LCC
- PQ1811 .E3 .M6 — Language and Literature French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese literatures French literature Modern literature 17th century
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 2,217
- Popularity
- 9,053
- Reviews
- 19
- Rating
- (3.89)
- Languages
- 18 — Bulgarian, Catalan, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Portuguese (Portugal)
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 340
- UPCs
- 1
- ASINs
- 87