The Donkey and the Little Dog

Fable by Jean De La Fontaine Collection The FablesThemes AnimalsPeriod 17th century

Let us never force our talent,
We would do nothing with grace:
Never will a clumsy fellow, whatever he does,
Be able to pass for a gallant.
Few people, whom Heaven cherishes and favors,
Have the gift of pleasing infused with life.
This is a point they must leave alone,
And not resemble the Donkey of the Fable,
Who to make himself more lovable
And dearer to his master, went to caress him.
“How is this?” he said in his soul,
“This Dog, because he is cute,
Will live on equal terms
With Monsieur, with Madame;
And I shall get blows from a stick?
What does he do? He offers his paw;
Then at once he is kissed:
If one must do the same so that I may be flattered,
That is not very difficult.”
In this admirable thought,
Seeing his Master joyful, he comes along heavily,
Raises a quite worn-out horn,
And brings it to his chin most lovingly,
Not without accompanying, for greater ornament,
With his graceful song this bold action.
“Oh! oh! what a caress! and what melody!”
Says the Master at once. “Ho there, Martin cudgel!”
Martin cudgel runs up; the Donkey changes his tune.
Thus ends the comedy.

Jean de La Fontaine

Translation generated by Poésies 123 with assistance from the deepseek-chat artificial-intelligence model.

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