#la fontaine

[enchantedbook]

' The Council of the Rats' from  La Fontaine 's Fable by Gustave Dore

[nemfrog]

And the gnat. A Hundred fables of La Fontaine. 1900.

Internet Archive

[victusinveritas]

Gustave Doré “ Rabbits head into the forest , from Fables of La Fontaine” (1868)

[a-book-of-creatures]

Which is better, to have multiple heads or multiple tails?

In the fable of La Fontaine “The Dragon with Several Heads and the Dragon with Several Tails”, the multi-headed dragon gets caught in a thicket as it tries to squirm through, but the multi-tailed dragon passes by easily. Thus, we are told, it is better to have one strong leader and many followers than to have many equally powerful leaders.

Some illustrations of the dragon(s)!

Gustave Doré

Auguste Vimar (those spindly bird/lizard legs!!)

Jean-Baptiste Oudry

François Chauveau

Benjamin Rabier (the tiger heads are especially adorable)

[yamanates34]

Sokrates bir ev yaptırmış nasılsa,

Eş dost başlamış kusur bulmaya.

Kimi içini beğenmemiş,

Kızmayın ama, demiş

Şanınıza lâyık değil odaları.

Kimi cephesine çatmış,

Karşıdan görünüşü berbatmış.

Hepsine göre de çok darmış bu ev.

Kim sığarmış bu kulübeye?

Koca filozof: Ah demiş, keşke bu evin alabileceği kadar

Gerçek dostum olsa!

Sokrates' in sözü yerinde,

Bir ev dolusu gerçek dost nerede?

Sözde herkes dost, ama gel de inan.

Dosttan bol şey de yok dünyada,

Dosttan az şey de....

La Fontaine

[adarkrainbow]

An Epinal image illustrating La Fontaine's fable, The Wolf and the Lamb.

[akkar2]

Gustav Doré (1832 – 1883), French artist: The wolf and the lamb. Illustration to Fables from La Fontaine 

[detroitlib]

From our stacks: Illustration from The Cat: Being a Record of the Endearments and Invectives Lavished by Many Writers Upon an Animal Much Loved and Much Abhorred. Collected, Translated and Arranged by Agnes Repplier. With Illustrations by Elisabeth F. Bonsall. New York: Sturgis & Walton Company, 1913.

[cemyafilmarsiv]

The Wolf and the Lamb (Illustration of a Fable by Jean de La Fontaine)

[turneradora]

I love this fable by La Fontaine

Some people would do well to read it and learn a moral lesson from it

The oak one day says to the reed:

—You have a good right to blame the nature of things:

A wren for you is a heavy thing to bear.

The slightest wind which is likely

To wrinkle the face of the water

Compels you to bow your head—

While my brow, like Mount Caucasus,

Not satisfied with catching the rays of the sun,

Resists the effort of the tempest.

All for you is north wind, all seems to me soft breeze.

Still, if you had been born in the protection of the foliage

The surrounding of which I cover,

I would defend you from the storm.

But you come to be most often

On the wet edges of the kingdoms of the wind.

Nature seems to me quite unjust to you.

—Your compassion, answered the shrub,

Arises from a kind nature; but leave off this care.

The winds are less fearful to me than to you.

I bend and do not break. You have until now

Against their frightening blows

Stood up without bending your back;

But look out for what can be. —As the reed said these words,

From the edge of the horizon furiously comes to them

The most terrible of the progeny

Which the North has till then contained within it.

The tree holds up well; the reed bends.

The wind doubles its trying;

And does so well that it uproots

That, the head of which was neighbor to the sky,

And the feet of which touched the empire of the dead.

[liminalflares]

Gustave Doré

The Ailing Stag [Le Cerf Malade], 1867

From Doré’s Illustrations for the Fables of La Fontaine

[postcard-from-the-past]

Tales of La Fontaine

French vintage postcard, staged and photographed by A. Bergeret, mailed in 1902 to Paris

[nemfrog]

The cat and the two sparrows. A Hundred fables of La Fontaine. 1900. Percy J. Billinghurst, illustrator. 

Internet Archive

[moncher-pierrot]

[tlbvaa]

En ağır yük sırdır, aşk olsun taşıyabilene

[whereishermes]

French Phrase of the Week "Petit à petit, l'oiseau fait son nid"

In every culture, proverbs and sayings offer nuggets of wisdom that have stood the test of time. France, with its rich cultural heritage, is no exception. One traditional French proverb that imparts valuable life lessons is “Petit à petit, l’oiseau fait son nid,” which translates to “Little by little, the bird builds its nest.” This proverb encourages patience, perseverance, and the power of…