With their unique blend of wit and poetic mastery, the verse interpretations of Aesop’s Fables by 17th-century author Jean de La Fontaine have enchanted readers of all ages for over three centuries. 70 popular and oft-quoted fables appear here, including "The Grasshopper and the Ant," "The Town Rat and the Country Rat," "The Fox and the Grapes," "The Hare and the Tortoise," and dozens more. A classic of French literature; brilliantly translated by Walter Thornbury into English verse.

Charming and elegant, Jean de La Fontaine's (1621-1695) 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.

La Fontaine's witty and sophisticated animal fables are among the greatest poetic works in French. Christopher Betts's new translations match the inventiveness of the original. This generous selection, including half of the originals, is accompanied by superb illustrations by Gustave Doré, a contextualizing introduction and other features.

Fables de J. de La Fontaine (Edition classique accompagnee de notes et remarques historiques, philologiques et litteraires, precedee d'une notice biographique)Date de l'edition originale : 1860Ce livre est la reproduction fidele d'une oeuvre publiee avant 1920 et fait partie d'une collection de livres reimprimes a la demande editee par Hachette Livre, dans le cadre d'un partenariat avec la Bibliotheque nationale de France, offrant l'opportunite d'acceder a des ouvrages anciens et souvent rares issus des fonds patrimoniaux de la BnF.Les oeuvres faisant partie de cette collection ont ete numerisees par la BnF et sont presentes sur Gallica, sa bibliotheque numerique.En entreprenant de redonner vie a ces ouvrages au travers d'une collection de livres reimprimes a la demande, nous leur donnons la possibilite de rencontrer un public elargi et participons a la transmission de connaissances et de savoirs parfois difficilement accessibles.Nous avons cherche a concilier la reproduction fidele d'un livre ancien a partir de sa version numerisee avec le souci d'un confort de lecture optimal. Nous esperons que les ouvrages de cette nouvelle collection vous apporteront entiere satisfaction.Pour plus d'informations, rendez-vous sur www.hachettebnf.frhttp://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k55441850

A collection of animal fables told by the Greek slave Aesop.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Stories with deep wisdom, gentle satire, polite cynicism, and, above all, irresistible humour.

Among the many translators who have attempted to render the fun and beauty of his writing in English, this selection by award-winning poet Marie Ponsot is arguably the finest ever achieved.