Jean de la Fontaine is one of the most known French writers of all time and was the most read writers of the 17th century. His Fables de la Fontaine are some of the most celebrated stories of all time and they all have an important lesson to remember. A lot of French schoolchildren have had to learn by heart some of these stories for school. If you are in the process of learning French and feel like impressing your friends and family members with your new languages skills, why not learn more about some of these Fable de la Fontaine. Here is a list of La Fontaine’s most iconic stories…
1La Cigale et la Fourmi
La cigale ayant chanté tout l’été…This is probably Jean de La Fontaine’s most famous fable. It tells the story of a hard-working and serious ant who works all summer to collect food for the cold and harsh winter months ahead and a care-free grasshopper who just sings all summer long and who is not preoccupied about collecting food. The grasshopper goes to the ant in the fall to ask for food but the ant won’t give any food because it blames the grasshopper for its own misfortunes. But who is right? Is the ant right to only think about the future and not enjoy its life or is the grasshopper right to live its summer life to the fullest?
2Le Corbeau et le Renard
Personally, this is my favourite of La Fontaine’s stories. The great fable is all about vanity and how important it is to not be obsessed with your looks and yourself. A raven is perched in a tree and holds a delicious and giant cheese in his mouth that he will soon enjoy. A fox passes by and starts telling the raven how beautiful he is, how incredible his voice is and how he is the most majestic creature in all the forest. The raven opens his mouth to sing to the nice fox but drops the cheese. The fox catches the delicious cheese and warns the raven that if you say what the person wants to hear then you’ll probably get what you want from them.
3Le Lièvre et la Tortue
This is another very well-known story from La Fontaine. Written in 1668, this fable is all about having humility and modesty in life. A hare and a turtle decide to have a race but the hare thinks it’s ridiculous because he would, of course, win. They start the race and since the hare is so sure he will win, he just relaxes and takes his time, not paying any attention to the turtle. Meanwhile, the turtle is convinced to win the race and lo and behold, the turtle does win the race! Why did he win the race? Because he worked hard and unlike the hare, he did not underestimate his opponent!
