The Monkey and the Cat

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

Bertrand and Raton, one a Monkey, the other a Cat,
Lodgers in the same house, had a common Master.
Of harmful animals they made a very good dish;
Neither of them feared any, whatever it might be.
If anything was found damaged in the house,
No one blamed the neighbors.
Bertrand stole everything; Raton for his part
Was less attentive to the mice than to the cheese.
One day by the fire our two rascally masters
Watched some chestnuts roasting.
To swipe them was a very good deal:
Our gallants saw a double profit to be made,
Their own good first, and then another’s harm.
Bertrand said to Raton: Brother, today you must
Perform a masterstroke.
Pull those chestnuts out for me. If God had made me born
Fit to pull chestnuts from the fire,
Chestnuts would surely see fair play.
No sooner said than done: Raton with his paw,
In a delicate manner,
Pushes aside the ash a little, and draws back his fingers,
Then brings them back several times;
Pulls out one chestnut, then two, and then swipes three.
And meanwhile Bertrand gobbles them.
A servant comes: farewell, my fine fellows. Raton
Was not pleased, so they say.
Nor indeed are most of those Princes
Who, flattered by such a task,
Go and scorch themselves in the Provinces
For the profit of some King.

Jean de La Fontaine

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

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