The Council Held by the Rats

Fable by Jean De La Fontaine Collection The FablesThemes SatirePeriod 17th centuryArthur's analysis ↓

A Cat, named Rodilardus,
Was making such havoc among the Rats
That you hardly saw any more of them,
So many had he put in the grave.
The few that remained, not daring to leave their hole,
Found nothing to eat but a quarter of their due,
And Rodilard passed, among the wretched folk,
Not for a Cat, but for a Devil.
Now one day, when far and high
The gallant went to seek a mate,
During all the sabbath he held with his Lady,
The remaining Rats held a council in a corner
On the present necessity.
At the outset, their Dean, a most prudent person,
Opined that they must, and sooner rather than later,
Tie a bell to Rodilard’s neck;
So that, when he went to war,
Warned by his step, they would flee underground;
That he knew no other way.
Everyone agreed with Monsieur the Dean,
Nothing seemed to them all more salutary.
The difficulty was to tie the bell.
One said: “I won’t go, I’m not so foolish”;
Another: “I cannot.” So that without doing anything
They parted. I have seen many Chapters
That were thus held for nothing;
Chapters, not of Rats, but Chapters of Monks,
Even chapters of Canons.
There’s no need but to deliberate,
The Court abounds in Councillors;
Is there need to execute,
You meet no one.

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-council-held-by-the-rats-jean-de-la-fontaine/

Arthur

Interpretation

Arthur's analysis

The hour is grave!

Rodilardus the cat feasts on the rats and decimates their numbers. An assembly is convened. The agenda: the urgent necessity of putting an end to this havoc; the survival of the group depends on it.

The elder, wisest among the wise, states his solution: to attach a bell to the cat's neck so as to hear him approach from afar.

Which rat will carry out the mission? Categorical refusal from some, silence from the others.

Thus, beyond attacking only the chapters of monks and the canons (which contain the word “cat”, thereby linking them more easily to the fable), Jean de La Fontaine shows the difficulty of governing human groups and, above all, mounts a satire of braggarts. Quick to gather and give good advice, he tells us, their good will runs out of steam as soon as it comes to undertaking what they dispense.

A description of court life, in short!

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