Jean De La Fontaine

Though you might not know his name you probably do know, at least one of his fables, 'the hare and the tortoise' - 'le lievre et la tortue'.

La Fontaine celebrated!

Jean de la Fontaine died in Paris on the 13th April 1695.  2020 was to celebrate the 325 years since his death.  Any celebration of this writer and his work were completely eclipsed by the Corona virus so this is my contribution to celebrate him.


According to Wikipedia,  Jean de la Fontaine is one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his Fables, which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Europe and numerous alternative versions in France, as well as in French regional languages.

Other Fables include 'the ant and the cicada' - 'la cigale et la fourmi' and the 'oak and the reed' - 'le chene et le roseau'.

Discover his fables in English and French

There is a bilingual book where you can find 8 of his fables, including thee which I mention. “As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.” which means if you purchase from the link, you will not be charged any more, thought I will receive a small commission which helps keep these pages up to date. You can find other bilingual books on my books and reviews page

Here is 'The crow and the fox' - 'Le corbeau et le renard', which you can read or listen to (French version only by foolwing this link.
https://www.iletaitunehistoire.com/genres/fables-poesies/lire/le-corbeau-et-le-renard-biblidpoe_001#ecouter