The Frogs Who Asked for a King

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

The Frogs, wearying
Of the Democratic state,
By their clamors did so much
That Jupiter subjected them to Monarchic power.
A wholly peaceful King fell to them from Heaven:
This King, however, made such a noise in falling
That the marsh-dwelling folk,
A very foolish and very fearful race,
Went and hid beneath the waters,
In the rushes, in the reeds,
In the holes of the marsh,
Not daring for a long time to look upon the face
Of him whom they believed to be a new giant;
Yet it was a Beanpole,
Whose gravity frightened the first one
Who, seeing him venture forth,
Dared to leave her lair.
She approached, but trembling.
Another followed her, another did the same,
An ant-hill of them came;
And their troop at last became so familiar
As to leap upon the King’s shoulder.
The good Sire suffers it, and keeps still always.
Jupiter soon has his brain worn out.
Give us, said this people, a King who stirs.
The Monarch of the Gods sends them a Crane,
Who gobbles them, who kills them,
Who gulps them down at his pleasure,
And Frogs complain;
And Jupiter says to them: What! does your desire
Believe it can bind us by its laws?
You should first
Have kept your Government;
But, having not done so, it should have sufficed you
That your first king was debonair and gentle:
Be content with this one,
Lest you meet a worse.

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-frogs-who-asked-for-a-king-jean-de-la-fontaine/

Arthur

Interpretation

Arthur's analysis

The people of the Frogs, who have had enough of democracy, demand a King from Jupiter. The latter grants this wish but gives the Frogs only a monarch without energy or authority (a beanpole).
Discontented, the Frogs demand a new King from Jupiter, but one who, this time, stirs!
The request is once again accepted: the Frogs are granted a Crane as King. What a disappointment, however! The Crane is a tyrant, killing and devouring the Frogs that dare approach it.

Once again, the staging of the animal world allows Jean de la Fontaine to draw parallels with his contemporaries. Men, whom he represents here in the guise of frogs, are thoughtless, of changing opinion, and of gregarious behavior. Eternally dissatisfied, they do not know how to be content with what they have.

The consequence of this inconstancy is that, demanding change, they forget that it could worsen their situation rather than improve it.

The message conveyed by Jean de la Fontaine, through Jupiter's words, thus appears clear: perhaps you do not like Louis XIV, but beware of criticizing him, you might experience a less favorable fate with another King.

This fable is therefore in no way a criticism of the established power, but on the contrary a support for it. Nothing surprising, since as a man of the court, Jean de la Fontaine had his rightful place at Versailles, alongside Louis XIV.

All of Arthur's analyses →