HEROES I sing who Æsop's lineage claim,
A troop whom history, though of lying fame,
Can deck with truths which each a lesson bear.
Everything speaks to human beings here :
E'en fishes utter precepts from my pen,
And beasts are useful for instructing men.
Illustrious offspring of a Heaven-sent prince,
On whom the whole world's eyes have settled since,
Who, causing e'en the proudest to obey,
Shall henceforth count a victory each day;
Perchance some other bard with bolder string
May deeds of yore and kinglike virtues sing,
'Tis mine with lesser deeds to entertain,
To paint on smaller canvas in my strain,
And if the prize of pleasing thee I lose,

At least thou art honoured by an adventurous muse.

FABLES DE LA FONTAINE.

LIVRE PREMIER.

Fable 1.-La Cigale et la Fourmi.

LA cigale, ayant chanté
Tout l'été,

Se trouva fort dépourvue
Quand la bise fut venue:

Pas un seul petit morceau

De mouche ou de vermisseau !

Elle alla crier famine

Chez la fourmi sa voisine,
La priant de lui prêter
Quelque grain pour subsister
Jusqu'à la saison nouvelle.

Je vous payerai, lui dit-elle,

FABLES OF LA FONTAINE.

BOOK I.

Fable 1.-The Grasshopper and the Ant.

A GRASSHOPPER ventured her song

Through the bright summer months to prolong;

But the cold, piercing wind of the North

From her home brought her destitute forth :

Not a tiny tit-bit could be found

Of fly or of worm on the ground.

So, feeling sad, hungry, and weak,

She went forth her neighbour to seek,

To see if a kind ant would lend

Some grain to support her

Till the new season came.

poor friend

"I will pay

Ere the autumn," she ventured to say,

Avant l'août, foi d'animal,
Intérêt et principal.

La fourmi n'est pas prêteuse :
C'est là son moindre défaut.

Que faisiez-vous au temps chaud?
Dit-elle à cette emprunteuse.

Nuit et jour à tout venant

Je chantais, ne vous déplaise.

Vous chantiez ! j'en suis fort aise.

Hé bien ! dansez maintenant.

Fable 2.-Le Corbeau et le Renard.

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 :

Hé! bon jour, monsieur le corbeau !

Que vous êtes joli ! que vous me semblez beau! Sans mentir, si votre ramage

Se rapporte à votre plumage,

Vous êtes le phenix des hôtes de ces bois.

A 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.

"On my faith as an animal true,
Both interest and principal too."

But the ant, knowing what she's about,
Doth never her good things lend out;
So "What did you do in the heat?"
Did this home-thrust the borrower meet.
"Oh! I sang, if you please, night and day,
To all the passers who came on the way."
"Oh, you sang! then I'm glad, my good friend,
In dancing your time you may spend."

Fable 2.-The Raven and the Fox.

A RAVEN, perched upon a tree,
Held in his beak a cheese;

A fox drew near, lured by the smell,
And spoke in words like these :
"Good Master Raven, how d'ye do?
How fine you look, and pretty too!
Without a lie, if your sweet note
Is only as perfect as your coat,
You are the Phonix of all birds!"
The raven, shamed of being so vain,
To show how well he knew to speak,
Opened with joy his long sharp beak;
Immediately the cheese fell down,