Originally Posted by
jb681131
For everyon's culture again, you all know Grimm's tales from Germany, or Anderson's from Danemark, but have you heard of Perrault's tales and LaFontaine's Fables from France ? You probably know without knowing.
Charles Perrault:
* Tales of mother Goose
* Cinderalla
* The Sleeping Beauty
* Little red riding hood
* Puss in Boots
* ...
Jean de La Fontaine (over 100 fables) - losts of his Fables are inspiered by Aesop's:
* The coach and the fly (aka the Fly and the Mule)
Six horses strain to pull a stage-coach up a sandy hill and all the passengers are obliged to get out. A fly now buzzes about, urging on the horses and supervising the progress of the coach, then complains that all the work has been left to it alone. The fabulist comments,
Thus certain people, with important air,
Meddle with business they know nought about:
Seem to be wanted everywhere,
And everywhere they ought to be turned out.
* The Fox and the Crow - everyone knows it in France
In the fable a crow has found a piece of cheese and retired to a branch to eat it. A fox, wanting it for himself, flatters the crow, calling it beautiful and wondering whether its voice is as sweet to match. When it lets out a caw, the cheese falls and is devoured by the fox.
* The Frog and the Ox (aka The frog that wished to be as big as the ox)
The story concerns a frog that tries to inflate itself to the size of an ox, but bursts in the attempt. It has usually been applied to socio-economic relations.
La Fontaine conclude with:
This world of ours is full of foolish creatures too -
Commoners want to build chateaux;
Each princeling wants his royal retinue;
Each count his squires. And so it goes.
* The Tortoise and the Hare
The story concerns a Hare who ridicules a slow-moving Tortoise. Tired of the Hare's arrogant behavior, the Tortoise challenges him to a race.[2] The hare soon leaves the tortoise behind and, confident of winning, takes a nap midway through the race. When the Hare awakes however, he finds that his competitor, crawling slowly but steadily, has arrived before him.
* The Wolf and the Lamb
A wolf comes upon a lamb and, in order to justify taking its life, accuses it of various misdemeanours, all of which the lamb proves to be impossible. Losing patience, the wolf says the offences must have been committed by someone else in the family and that it does not propose to delay its meal by enquiring any further. The morals drawn are that the tyrant can always find an excuse for his tyranny, and that the unjust will not listen to the reasoning of the innocent.
* ...