The Husband, the Wife, and the Thief

Fable by Jean De La Fontaine Collection The FablesThemes Fear, LovePeriod 17th century

A husband deeply in love,
Deeply in love with his Wife,
Though he had his pleasure, thought himself unhappy.
Never a glance from the Lady,
Flattering and gracious words,
A friendly word, nor a sweet smile,
Deifying the poor Sire,
Had ever made him suspect he was truly cherished.
I believe it: he was a husband.
It was not through wedlock
That, content with his destiny,
He failed to thank the Gods for it;
But what of it? If love does not season
The pleasures that marriage gives us,
I do not see that one is any the better for it.
Our spouse being therefore fashioned in this way,
And having never in her life caressed her husband,
He was making his complaint one night. A thief
Interrupted the lament.
The poor woman was so frightened
That she sought some assurance
In the arms of her spouse.
Friend Thief, he said, without you this good so sweet
Would be unknown to me. Take then as your reward
All that can here be to your liking;
Take the house as well. Thieves are not
Shamefaced folk, nor very delicate:
This one helped himself. I infer from this tale
That the strongest passion
Is fear: it makes one overcome aversion,
And love sometimes; sometimes it masters it;
I have as proof of this that lover
Who burned his house to embrace his Lady,
Carrying her off through the flames.
I rather like that impetuousness;
The tale has always pleased me infinitely:
It is truly worthy of a Spanish soul,
And greater still than foolish.

Jean de La Fontaine

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

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