The Raven Wishing to Imitate the Eagle

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

Jupiter’s bird, having seized a sheep,
A Raven witnessed the deed,
And weaker in the loins, but no less greedy,
Wanted to do the same at once.
He circles round the flock,
Marks among a hundred Sheep the fattest, the finest,
A true sheep for sacrifice:
It had been reserved for the mouths of the Gods.
The lusty Raven said, eyeing it covetously:
I know not who your nurse was;
But your body seems to me in marvelous condition:
You will serve me as food.
At these words he swoops down on the bleating animal.
The sheep-like creature
Weighed more than a cheese, besides which its fleece
Was of extreme thickness,
And tangled in much the same way
As the beard of Polyphemus.
It so ensnared the Raven’s talons
That the poor animal could not retreat.
The Shepherd comes, takes it, cages it nicely,
Gives it to his children to serve as a plaything.
One must measure oneself, the consequence is clear:
It goes badly for young birds who play at being thieves.
Example is a dangerous lure:
Not all devourers of men are great Lords;
Where the Wasp has passed, the Gnat stays behind.

Jean de La Fontaine

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

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