The Tortoise and the Two Ducks

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

A Tortoise, light of head, there was,
Who, weary of her hole, wished to see the world,
Willingly we prize a foreign land:
Willingly lame folk hate their home.
Two Ducks to whom the gossip
Communicated this fine design,
Said they had the means to satisfy her:
See you that broad road?
We will carry you, through the air, to America,
You will see many a Republic,
Many a Kingdom, many a people, and you will profit
From the different customs that you notice.
Ulysses did as much. One hardly expected
To see Ulysses in this affair.
The Tortoise listened to the proposition.
Deal struck, the birds forge a machine
To transport the pilgrim.
Crosswise in her mouth they pass a stick.
Hold tight, they said; beware of letting go.
Then each Duck takes this stick by one end.
The Tortoise lifted up, everyone is astonished
To see going in this guise
The slow animal and her house,
Right in the middle of the one and the other Gosling.
Miracle, they cried. Come see in the clouds
Pass the Queen of Tortoises.
– The Queen. Truly yes. I am indeed;
Do not mock me for it. She would have done much better
To go her way without saying anything;
For letting go the stick by loosening her teeth,
She falls, she dies at the feet of the onlookers.
Her indiscretion was the cause of her ruin.
Imprudence, babbling, and foolish vanity,
And vain curiosity,
Are closely related together.
They are children all of one lineage.

Jean de La Fontaine

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

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