Reading with Géraldine: Le Corbeau et le Renard
La fable : Le Corbeau et le Renard (the Crow and the Fox)
Jean de La Fontaine = Lived in the 17th century (1621-1695), under King Louis XIV, le Roi Soleil. He’s especially known for his Fables, short stories, often in verse, featuring animals that talk and act like humans. The main purpose of his fables was to instruct and to provide a moral, often a subtle criticism of the society of his time.
1 - La fable en français (et en anglais)
Maître Corbeau, sur un arbre perché,
Tenait en son bec un fromage.
Maître Renard, par l’odeur alléché,
Lui tint à peu près ce langage :
Et bonjour, Monsieur du Corbeau.
Que vous êtes joli ! que vous me semblez beau !
Sans mentir, si votre ramage
Se rapporte à votre plumage,
Vous êtes le Phénix des hôtes de ces bois.
À ces mots, le Corbeau ne se sent pas de joie ;
Et pour montrer sa belle voix,
Il ouvre un large bec, laisse tomber sa proie.
Le Renard s’en saisit, et dit : Mon bon Monsieur,
Apprenez que tout flatteur
Vit aux dépens de celui qui l’écoute.
Cette leçon vaut bien un fromage, sans doute.
Le Corbeau honteux et confus
Jura, mais un peu tard, qu’on ne l’y prendrait plus.
English translation:
Master crow, perched high in a tree,
Held a cheese in his beak.
Master fox, lured by the smell,
Spoke to him more or less like this:
“Good day, lord crow.
How pretty you are, how handsome you seem!
Truthfully, if your song
Matches the beauty of your feathers,
You are the Phoenix of the animals in these woods.”
At these words the crow bursts with joy;
To show off his fine voice
He opens his beak wide—his prize drops.
The fox snatches it and says:
“My good sir, know this: every flatterer
Lives at his listener’s expense.
That lesson is surely worth a cheese.”
The crow, ashamed and confused,
Swore—though a bit too late—that he’ll be fooled again nevermore.
2 - The extra mile: vocabulary and poetry
Sur un arbre perché → in French poetry, adjectives can be placed in strange ways. In everyday French, we’d say: “perché sur un arbre” (perched on a tree).
Same thing with : par l’odeur alléché → “alléché par l’odeur” (lured, tempted by the smell.)
Joli(e) = pretty.
Beau = beautiful, handsome
Le ramage (poetic) = le chant d’un oiseau (birdsong)
Une plume = a feather
(A plum = une prune)
Un hôte, une hôtesse = same word for a host(ess) or for a guest.
La proie = the prey
La morale = the lesson at the end of many of La Fontaine’s fables.
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See you next time! A bientot !
J’aime bien cette leçon. Les Fables sont tellement amusants, mais aussi très éducatives. J’attends la prochaine leçon. Merci et bonne journée Géraldine.
J’aime bien cette leçon et j’aimerai beaucoup comme ça. Merci beaucoup Géraldine.