The Child and the Schoolmaster

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

In this tale I intend to show
The vain rebuke of a certain fool.
A young child let himself fall into the water,
Frolicking on the banks of the Seine.
The Heavens allowed a willow to be there,
Whose branches, after God, saved him.
Having caught, I say, on the branches of this willow,
By this spot passes a schoolmaster.
The child cries out to him: “Help! I am perishing.”
The Magister, turning at his cries,
In a very grave tone, at the wrong time, takes it upon himself
To scold him: “Ah! the little baboon!
See, he says, where his foolishness has put him!
And then, take care of such rascals.
How unhappy are the parents who must
Always watch over such rabble!
What troubles they have! and how I pity their lot!”
Having said all, he brought the child aboard.
I blame here more people than one might think.
Every babbler, every censor, every pedant,
Can recognize himself in the discourse I advance:
Each of the three makes a very great people;
The Creator has blessed their breed.
In every matter they only think
Of the means to exercise their tongue.
Ah! my friend, pull me from danger:
You will make your speech afterward.

Jean de La Fontaine

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

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