Inspired new translations of the work of one of the world's greatest fabulists

Told in an elegant style, Jean de la Fontaine's (1621-95) charming animal fables depict sly foxes and scheming cats, vain birds and greedy wolves, all of which subtly express his penetrating insights into French society and the beasts found in all of us. Norman R. Shapiro has been translating La Fontaine's fables for over twenty years, capturing the original work's lively mix of plain and archaic language. This newly complete translation is destined to set the English standard for this work.
Awarded the Lewis...

Jean de La Fontaine was one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. Born in Chateau-Thierry in 1621, his literary career did not truly begin until he was in his thirties and spending most of his time in the French capital, Paris. Among La Fontaine's most famous works are his collections of fables, issued in several volumes between 1668 and 1694. The earliest of these books, from which the current collection was drawn, were mostly adapted from the works of Aesop, Babrius, and Phaedrus. La Fontaine initially wrote his rhyming fables for a sophisticated audience, but the poems...