Fables of La Fontaine
These are not children's stories. They never were. Jean de La Fontaine's fables are razor-sharp portraits of human folly, dressed in the harmless clothing of wolves, foxes, and donkeys but cutting to the bone of ambition, greed, lust for power, and self-deception. Written in 17th-century France with effortless wit and formal brilliance, the fables unfold across 240 tales where animals speak with more wisdom and honesty than any court. A wolf argues philosophy while devouring a lamb. A tortoise beats a hare through patience rather than speed. A farmer buries gold that never served him, a lesson in hoarding that still stings. The beasts are our mirrors, and La Fontaine knows exactly what we will see. These are fables that assume their readers are intelligent enough to apply the lessons themselves, which is precisely what makes them endure. Four centuries later, the fox still steals the grapes, the lion still dominates by paw, and we still believe ourselves the exception to every moral.
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RogerMathewson, tovarisch, Sonia, Kalynda +16 more
