The Swan and the Cook

Fable by Jean De La Fontaine Collection The FablesThemes Animals, DeathPeriod 17th century

In an aviary
Filled with birds
Lived the Swan and the Gosling:
The former destined for the master’s eyes;
The latter, for his taste: one who prided himself on being
A guest of the garden, the other, of the house.
Making their rounds along the castle moats,
Sometimes they could be seen swimming side by side,
Sometimes gliding on the water, and sometimes diving,
Unable to satisfy their vain desires.
One day the Cook, having drunk too much at once,
Took the Swan for the Gosling; and holding it by the neck,
He was about to slit its throat, then put it in the pot.
The bird, about to die, laments in its song.
The Cook was quite surprised,
And saw well that he had been mistaken.
“What? I would put,” he said, “such a singer in soup!
No, no, may the Gods never allow my hand to cut
The throat of one who uses it so well!”
Thus in the dangers that follow us on our heels
Sweet speech harms nothing.

Jean de La Fontaine

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

Text published on Poésies 123: https://www.poesies123.com/en/fable-the-swan-and-the-cook-jean-de-la-fontaine/