Les fables de jean de la fontaine

Almost from the start, the Fables entered French literary consciousness to a greater degree than any other classic of its literature. For generations many of these little apologues have been read, committed to memory, recited, paraphrased, by every French school child. Countless phrases from them are current idioms, and familiarity with them is assumed.

You begin by selecting the largest and best, but, little by little, you eat first one, then another, till at last the basket is empty". Silvestre de Sacy has commented that they supply delights to three different ages: the child rejoices in the freshness and vividness of the story, the eager student of literature in the consummate art with which it is told, the experienced man of the world in the subtle reflections on character and life which it conveys.

Reception to the moral aspect has generally been positive, with exceptions such as Rousseau and Lamartine.

Les fables de jean de la fontaine

The book has become a standard French reader both at home and abroad. Lamartine, who preferred classic regularity in verse, could find in the Fables only "limping, disjointed, unequal verses, without symmetry either to the ear or on the page". But the poets of the Romantic School HugoMussetGautier and their fellows, found in the popular favor these verses had attained an incentive to undertake an emancipation of French prosody which they in large measure achieved.

When he first wrote his FablesLa Fontaine had a sophisticated audience in mind. Nevertheless, the Fables were regarded as providing an excellent education in morals for children, and the first edition was dedicated to the six-year-old Dauphin. Following La Fontaine's example, his translator Charles Denis dedicated his Select Fables to the sixteen-year-old heir to the English throne.

These contained fables of La Fontaine rewritten to fit popular airs of the day and arranged for simple performance. The preface to this work announces that its aim is specifically to "give them an attraction to useful lessons which are suited to their age [and] an aversion to the profane songs which are often put into their mouths and which only serve to corrupt their innocence".

This was in the context of getting the young people of the family to perform at social gatherings. Eventually the fables were learned by heart for such entertainments and afterwards they were adopted by the education system, not least as linguistic models as well. Reinforcing the work were illustrated editions, trade cards issued with chocolate [ 5 ] and meat extract products, [ 6 ] postcards with the picture on one side and the poem on the other, and illustrated chinaware.

Il ne faut point qu'il sorte du talent qu'il a de conter [ 33 ] ». Le monde est vieux, dit-on. Je le crois cependant. Il le faut amuser encor comme un enfant. Article Discussion. Outils Outils. Les trois recueils [ modifier modifier le code ]. Style [ modifier modifier le code ]. La position du sujet [ modifier modifier le code ].

Le triomphe de la force et de la ruse [ modifier modifier le code ]. The Grasshopper and the Ant. The Crow and The Fox. La Besace -- The Alms Bag. The Creator made us like alms bags all in the same way: Those born long ago and those born today. Our own faults are buried in the rear pouch. The front pouch is reserved for the faults of others.

The Lion in Love. Similar Books Readers also downloaded…. In FR Contes. In FR Illustrateurs. In Browsing: Literature. In Browsing: Poetry. Fairly easy to read.