species; but having given him my word that I would return immediately, I came here to represent it to your Highness." "Go quickly," said the lion in a rage, "and show me where this vile wretch may be found!"

Accordingly, the rabbit conducted the lion to the brink of a deep well, where being arrived, "There," said the rabbit, "look down and behold him." At the same time he pointed to the reflected image of the lion in the water, who, swelling with pride and resentment, leaped into the well, as he thought, upon his adversary; and thus put an end to his life.

I repeat, therefore:

He who hath sense hath strength. Where hath he strength who wanteth judgment?

240

Marie de France lived probably in the latter part of the twelfth century and was one of the most striking figures in Middle English literature. She seems to have been born in France, lived much in England, translated from the Anglo-Norman dialect into French, and is spoken of as the first French poet. One of her three works, and the most extensive, is a collection of 103 fables, which she says she translated from the English of King Alfred. Her original, whatever it may have been, is lost. One of her fables, in a translation by Professor W. W. Skeat, is given below. It contains the germ of Chaucer's "Nun's Priest's Tale," in The Canterbury Tales.

THE COCK AND THE FOX
MARIE DE FRANCE

A Cock our story tells of, who
High on a trash hill stood and crew.
A Fox, attracted, straight drew nigh,
And spake soft words of flattery.

"Dear Sir!" said he, "your look's divine; I never saw a bird so fine!

I never heard a voice so clear
Except your father's-ah! poor dear!
His voice rang clearly, loudly-but
Most clearly when his eyes were shut!"
"The same with me!" the Cock replies,
And flaps his wings, and shuts his eyes.
Each note rings clearer than the last
The Fox starts up and holds him fast;
Toward the wood he hies apace.

But as he crossed an open space, The shepherds spy him; off they fly; The dogs give chase with hue and cry. The Fox still holds the Cock, though fear Suggests his case is growing queer. "Tush!" cries the Cock, "cry out, to grieve 'em,

'The cock is mine! I'll never leave him!'"

The Fox attempts, in scorn, to shout, And opes his mouth; the Cock slips out, And in a trice has gained a tree.

Too late the Fox begins to see How well the Cock his game has played;. For once his tricks have been repaid. In angry language, uncontrolled, He 'gins to curse the mouth that's bold To speak, when it should silent be. "Well," says the Cock, "the same with

me;

I curse the eyes that go to sleep Just when they ought sharp watch to keep

Lest evil to their lord befall."

Thus fools contrariously do all; They chatter when they should be dumb, And, when they ought to speak, are mum.

241

The following is Wright's translation of the first fable in La Fontaine's collection. Rousseau, objecting to fables in general, singled out this particular one as an example of their bad effects on children, and echoes of his voice are still in evidence. It would, he said, give children a lesson in inhumanity.

"You believe you are making an example of the grasshopper, but they will choose the ant. .. they will take the more pleasant part, which is a very natural thing." Another observer said: "As for me, I love neither grasshopper nor ant, neither avarice nor prodigality, neither the miserly people who lend nor the spendthrifts who borrow." These statements represent complex, analytic points of view which are probably outside the range of most children. They will see the grasshopper simply as a type of thorough shiftlessness and the ant as a type of forethought, although La Fontaine does suggest that the ant might on general principles be a little less "tight-fisted." The lesson that idleness is the mother of want, the necessity of looking ahead, of providing for the future, of laying up for a rainy day—these are certainly commonsense conclusions and the only ones the story itself will suggest to the child.

THE GRASSHOPPER AND THE ANT

LA FONTAINE

A grasshopper gay
Sang the summer away,
And found herself poor
By the winter's first roar.
Of meat or of bread,
Not a morsel she had!
So a begging she went,
To her neighbor the ant,

For the loan of some wheat, Which would serve her to eat, Till the season came round.

"I will pay you," she saith, "On an animal's faith, Double weight in the pound Ere the harvest be bound.”

The ant is a friend

(And here she might mend)
Little given to lend.

"How spent you the summer?" Quoth she, looking shame At the borrowing dame. "Night and day to each comer I sang, if you please." "You sang! I'm at ease; For 'tis plain at a glance, Now, ma'am, you must dance."

242

The translation of the following fable is that of W. Lucas Collins, in his La Fontaine and Other French Fabulists. This fable has always been a great favorite among the French, and the translator has caught much of the sprightly tone of his original.

THE COCK, THE CAT, AND THE YOUNG MOUSE

LA FONTAINE

A pert young Mouse, to whom the world

was new,

Had once a near escape, if all be true. He told his mother, as I now tell you: "I crossed the mountains that beyond us rise,

And, journeying onwards, bore me As one who had a great career before me, When lo! two creatures met my wonder

ing eyes,

The one of gracious mien, benign and mild; The other fierce and wild,

With high-pitched voice that filled me with alarm;

A lump of sanguine flesh grew on his head,

And with a kind of arm
He raised himself in air,
As if to hover there;

His tail was like a horseman's plume outspread."

(It was a farmyard Cock, you understand,

That our young friend described in terms so grand,

Till, fainting in the public way, Half dead with fear she gasping lay. What transport in her bosom grew, When first the Horse appeared in view! "Let me," says she, "your back ascend, And owe my safety to a friend. You know my feet betray my flight; To friendship every burden's light." The Horse replied: "Poor honest Puss, It grieves my heart to see thee thus; Be comforted; relief is near, For all your friends are in the rear." She next the stately Bull implored; And thus replied the mighty lord, "Since every beast alive can tell That I sincerely wish you well, I may, without offence, pretend, To take the freedom of a friend; Love calls me hence; a favorite cow Expects me near yon barley-mow; And when a lady's in the case, You know, all other things give place. To leave you thus might seem unkind; But see, the Goat is just behind."

The Goat remarked her pulse was high, Her languid head, her heavy eye; "My back," says he, "may do you harm; The Sheep's at hand, and wool is warm." The Sheep was feeble, and complained His sides a load of wool sustained: Said he was slow, confessed his fears, For hounds eat sheep as well as hares. She now the trotting Calf addressed, To save from death a friend distressed. "Shall I," says he, "of tender age, In this important care engage? Older and abler passed you by; How strong are those, how weak am I! Should I presume to bear you hence, Those friends of mine may take offence. Excuse me, then. You know my heart. But dearest friends, alas, must part! How shall we all lament! Adieu! For see, the hounds are just in view."

244

Tomas de Yriarte (1750-1791) was a Spanish poet of some note, remembered now mainly as the author of Literary Fables, the first attempt at literary fable-writing in Spanish. As the name is meant to imply, they concern themselves with the follies and weaknesses of authors. There are about eighty fables in the complete collection, and they are full of ingenuity and cleverness. One of the simplest and best of these is given here in the translation by R. Rockliffe, which first appeared in Blackwood's Magazine in 1839. It laughs at the lucky chance by which even stupidity sometimes "makes a hit" and then stupidly proceeds to pat itself on the back.

THE MUSICAL ASS

TOMAS YRIARTE

The fable which I now present
Occurred to me by accident;
And whether bad or excellent,
Is merely so by accident.

A stupid ass one morning went
Into a field by accident

And cropp'd his food and was content,
Until he spied by accident

A flute, which some oblivious gent
Had left behind by accident;
When, sniffing it with eager scent,
He breathed on it by accident,
And made the hollow instrument
Emit a sound by accident.
"Hurrah! hurrah!" exclaimed the brute,
"How cleverly I play the flute!"

A fool, in spite of nature's bent,
May shine for once-by accident.

245

Ivan Andreevitch Krylov (1768-1844) was a Russian author whose fame rests almost entirely upon his popular verse fables (200 in number) which have been used extensively as textbooks in Russian schools.

They have "joyousness, simplicity, wit, and good humor." The following specimen is from I. H. Harrison's translation of Krylov's Original Fables. It gives a good illustration of the necessity of "teamwork."

THE SWAN, THE PIKE, AND THE CRAB

IVAN KRYLOV

When partners with each other don't

agree,

Each project must a failure be,

And out of it no profit come, but sheer vexation.

when they say to the fruitful olive tree, or fig tree, or vine, "Come thou and reign over us," he replies, "Should I forsake my productive factory, or mine, or profession, to be mayor?" But when they say to the bramble, "Come thou and reign over us,' he replies, "Put your trust in me, and let those suffer who object to my management of public affairs." Jotham's lesson of political duty is one greatly needed in the present-day attempt to raise our standard of citizenship.

THE BRAMBLE IS MADE

KING Judges ix:6-16

And all the men of Shechem gathered

But, when the moment came for them to start,

They sweat, they strain, and yet the cart

stands still; what's lacking?

The load must, as it seemed, have been but light;

The Swan, though, to the clouds takes flight,

The Pike into the water pulls, the Crab keeps backing.

Now which of them was right, which

wrong, concerns us not; The cart is still upon the selfsame spot.

246

This fable from the Old Testament is one of the very oldest on record in which a story is practically applied to a human problem. The causes of political corruption apparently have not changed much in three thousand years. American citizens gather together at certain times to choose mayors and other officers to rule over them, and

And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the top of Mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said unto them:

"Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you. The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, 'Reign thou over us.' But the olive tree said unto them, 'Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honor God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?'

But

"And the trees said to the fig tree, 'Come thou and reign over us.' the fig tree said unto them, 'Should I forsake my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees?'

"Then said the trees unto the vine, vine said unto them, 'Should I leave my 'Come thou and reign over us.' And the wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?'

"Then said all the trees unto the bramble, 'Come thou and reign over us.' And