Fables of La Fontaine Part 53

With us, it is a general fact, One sees the latest-come attack'd, And plunder'd to the skin.

Coquettes and authors we may view, As samples of the sin; For woe to belle or writer new!

The fewer eaters round the cake, The fewer players for the stake, The surer each one's self to take.

A hundred facts my truth might test; But shortest works are always best.

In this I but pursue the chart Laid down by masters of the art; And, on the best of themes, I hold, The truth should never all be told.

Hence, here my sermon ought to close.

O thou, to whom my fable owes Whate'er it has of solid worth,-- Who, great by modesty as well as birth, Hast ever counted praise a pain,-- Whose leave I could so ill obtain That here your name, receiving homage, Should save from every sort of damage My slender works--which name, well known To nations, and to ancient Time, All France delights to own; Herself more rich in names sublime Than any other earthly clime;-- Permit me here the world to teach That you have given my simple rhyme The text from which it dares to preach.

[23] This fable in the original editions has no other t.i.tle save--"An Address," &c. Later editors t.i.tled it "Les Lapins."

[24] _Rochefoucauld_.--See Fable XI., Book I., also dedicated to the duke, and the note thereto.

XVI.--THE MERCHANT, THE n.o.bLE, THE SHEPHERD, AND THE KING'S SON.[25]

Four voyagers to parts unknown, On sh.o.r.e, not far from naked, thrown By furious waves,--a merchant, now undone, A n.o.ble, shepherd, and a monarch's son,-- Brought to the lot of Belisarius,[26]

Their wants supplied on alms precarious.

To tell what fates, and winds, and weather, Had brought these mortals all together, Though from far distant points abscinded, Would make my tale long-winded.

Suffice to say, that, by a fountain met, In council grave these outcasts held debate.

The prince enlarged, in an oration set, Upon the mis'ries that befall the great.

The shepherd deem'd it best to cast Off thought of all misfortune past, And each to do the best he could, In efforts for the common weal.

'Did ever a repining mood,'

He added, 'a misfortune heal?

Toil, friends, will take us back to Rome, Or make us here as good a home.'

A shepherd so to speak! a shepherd? What!

As though crown'd heads were not, By Heaven's appointment fit, The sole receptacles of wit!

As though a shepherd could be deeper, In thought or knowledge, than his sheep are!

The three, howe'er, at once approved his plan, Wreck'd as they were on sh.o.r.es American.

'I'll teach arithmetic,' the merchant said,-- Its rules, of course, well seated in his head,-- 'For monthly pay.' The prince replied, 'And I Will teach political economy.'

'And I,' the n.o.ble said, 'in heraldry Well versed, will open for that branch a school--'

As if, beyond a thousand leagues of sea, That senseless jargon could befool!

'My friends, you talk like men,'

The shepherd cried, 'but then The month has thirty days; till they are spent, Are we upon your faith to keep full Lent?

The hope you give is truly good; But, ere it comes, we starve for food!

Pray tell me, if you can divine, On what, to-morrow, we shall dine; Or tell me, rather, whence we may Obtain a supper for to-day.

This point, if truth should be confess'd, Is first, and vital to the rest.

Your science short in this respect, My hands shall cover the defect.--'

This said, the nearest woods he sought, And thence for market f.a.gots brought, Whose price that day, and eke the next, Relieved the company perplex'd-- Forbidding that, by fasting, they should go To use their talents in the world below.

We learn from this adventure's course, There needs but little skill to get a living.

Thanks to the gifts of Nature's giving, Our hands are much the readiest resource.

[25] Bidpaii, and Lokman.

[26] _Belisarius_.--Belisarius was a great general, who, having commanded the armies of the emperor, and lost the favour of his master, fell to such a point of dest.i.tution that he asked alms upon the highways.--La Fontaine. The touching story of the fall of Belisarius, of which painters and poets have made so much, is entirely false, as may be seen by consulting Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," chap. xliii.--Translator.

BOOK XI.

I.--THE LION.[1]

Some time ago, a sultan Leopard, By means of many a rich escheat, Had many an ox in meadow sweet, And many a stag in forest, fleet, And (what a savage sort of shepherd!) Full many a sheep upon the plains, That lay within his wide domains.

Not far away, one morn, There was a lion born.

Exchanged high compliments of state, As is the custom with the great, The sultan call'd his vizier Fox, Who had a deeper knowledge-box, And said to him, 'This lion's whelp you dread; What can he do, his father being dead?

Our pity rather let him share, An orphan so beset with care.

The luckiest lion ever known, If, letting conquest quite alone, He should have power to keep his own.'

Sir Renard said, And shook his head, 'Such orphans, please your majesty, Will get no pity out of me.

We ought to keep within his favour, Or else with all our might endeavour To thrust him out of life and throne, Ere yet his claws and teeth are grown.

There's not a moment to be lost.

His horoscope I've cast; He'll never quarrel to his cost; But then his friendship fast Will be to friends of greater worth Than any lion's e'er on earth.

Try then, my liege, to make it ours, Or else to check his rising powers.'

The warning fell in vain.

The sultan slept; and beasts and men Did so, throughout his whole domain, Till lion's whelp became a lion.

Then came at once the tocsin cry on, Alarm and fluttering consternation.

The vizier call'd to consultation, A sigh escaped him as he said, 'Why all this mad excitement now, When hope is fled, no matter how?

A thousand men were useless aid,-- The more, the worse,--since all their power Would be our mutton to devour.

Appease this lion; sole he doth exceed The helpers all that on us feed.

And three hath he, that cost him nought-- His courage, strength, and watchful thought.

Quick send a wether for his use: If not contented, send him more; Yes, add an ox, and see you choose The best our pastures ever bore.

Thus save the rest.'--But such advice The sultan spurn'd, as cowardice.

And his, and many states beside, Did ills, in consequence, betide.

However fought this world allied, The beast maintain'd his power and pride.

If you must let the lion grow, Don't let him live to be your foe.

[1] The fable of the young Leopard in the Bidpaii collection resembles this.

II.--THE G.o.dS WISHING TO INSTRUCT A SON OF JUPITER.[2]

For Monseigneur The Duke Du Maine.

To Jupiter was born a son,[3]

Who, conscious of his origin, A G.o.dlike spirit had within.

To love, such age is little p.r.o.ne; Yet this celestial boy Made love his chief employ, And was beloved wherever known.

In him both love and reason Sprang up before their season.

With charming smiles and manners winning, Had Flora deck'd his life's beginning, As an Olympian became: Whatever lights the tender flame,-- A heart to take and render bliss,-- Tears, sighs, in short the whole were his.

Jove's son, he should of course inherit A higher and a n.o.bler spirit Than sons of other deities.

It seem'd as if by Memory's aid-- As if a previous life had made Experiment and hid it-- He plied the lover's hard-learn'd trade, So perfectly he did it.

Still Jupiter would educate In manner fitting to his state.

The G.o.ds, obedient to his call, a.s.semble in their council-hall; When thus the sire: 'Companionless and sole, Thus far the boundless universe I roll; But numerous other offices there are, Of which I give to younger G.o.ds the care.

I'm now forecasting for this cherish'd child, Whose countless altars are already piled.

To merit such regard from all below, All things the young immortal ought to know.'

No sooner had the Thund'rer ended, Than each his G.o.dlike plan commended; Nor did the boy too little yearn His lesson infinite to learn.

Said fiery Mars, 'I take the part To make him master of the art Whereby so many heroes high Have won the honours of the sky.'