Tales and Novels of J. de La Fontaine — Volume 04
La Fontaine, Jean de, 1621-1695Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019
Rating 3.7- Word count
- 21K words
- Chapters
- 3
Tags
English Originals Foreign Literature Animal ImageryHuman NatureMoral AllegoryClassic MasterpieceFable StoriesFrench HumorSatirical StylePoetic NarrativeLively Narrative17th Century FranceSummary
Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Tales and Novels of J. de La Fontaine — Volume 04 by Jean de La FontaineAuthor: La Fontaine, Jean de, 1621-1695,Language: English, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Mar 1, 2004Editor's review
This is Volume 04 of the English translation of La Fontaine's Tales and Novels, a public-domain ebook. La Fontaine is best known for his verse fables, but this collection reveals another side of him: drawing on traditions from Boccaccio, Ariosto, and others, it tells witty, amorous, and worldly short stories in verse. This volume suits readers who have already read some pieces and wish to read through systematically, as well as those studying French classical literature and the European short-narrative tradition who want comparative reading. The English translation preserves the narrative rhythm and colloquial wit; the pieces are moderate in length and easy to read one by one. As a Project Gutenberg edition, the text is easy to obtain and search, and convenient for excerpting and note-taking on e-readers. Note that the stories contain old-fashioned amorous banter and moral perspectives; readers should understand them in the context of seventeenth-century French literature rather than judge them by contemporary tastes.Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers who love La Fontaine's fables and want to know his narrative works
- Students of French classical literature and the European short-story tradition
- Those who need a public-domain English text for translation practice or textual analysis
- General readers who prefer e-reading and want to read piece by piece at ease
Not a good fit for
- Children expecting La Fontaine's animal fables
- Readers sensitive to old-fashioned amorous banter and moral views
- Those who want a Chinese translation rather than the English original
Reading tips
- Read one piece at a time and summarize the plot and moral in a sentence or two after each.
- Compare with Boccaccio's Decameron or La Fontaine's fables, noting differences in subject matter and style.
- Mark allusions or old customs as you go, and review your notes after finishing the volume.
- Readers with basic English should first follow the plot, then return to the verse rhythm and wording.
About the publisher
Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.
Contents
- 1
- 2
- 3
FAQ
Can this fourth volume be read on its own?
Yes. The volumes are relatively independent, so reading this one alone does not hinder understanding; but to grasp the selection logic of the whole collection, read the volumes in order.Is this La Fontaine's verse fables?
No. This is the English translation of La Fontaine's Tales and Novels, short narrative stories that differ in genre and subject from his animal fables.How difficult is the English?
It is a public-domain English translation with a classical narrative flavor and occasional verse traces in the syntax. Readers with general English proficiency can follow the plot; close reading of the rhetoric requires more patience.Why is comparative reading recommended?
La Fontaine's stories draw heavily on the European narrative tradition; comparing them with works such as the Decameron reveals how subjects circulate and are rewritten, and makes their place in French literature easier to understand.This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.
About the author
La Fontaine, Jean de, 1621-1695 AuthorJean de La Fontaine (1621–1695) was a French fabulist, best known for his Fables de La Fontaine. The library holds 36 of his works, including the first and new editions of the Fables, its first and second volumes, A Hundred Fables of La Fontaine, The Original Fables of La Fontaine, and the complete Tales and Novels of J. de La Fontaine. Drawing on Greek, Latin, and Eastern storytelling traditions, his fables feature personified animals, concise and lively verse, and gentle satire, using ordinary situations to reveal human nature and moral lessons. His works have circulated widely and are often used as children's reading and language-learning material; the library classifies them under inspirational growth. Public information on the details of his life is limited, so no conjecture is offered here.