Reading Notes:La Fontaine, Part A

Foolish Animals, By Jean de La Fontaine. 

Translated by W.T. Larned. 

I am glad I noticed this author on the list of European works. I am a French major, so I am familiar with some of Fontaine's original work. I googled the original version of this fable, to refresh my memory. Having read the original helps me better appreciate this translation. Larned did a good job of preserving the story content and creating new rhymes in English. I think he is inspiring. 

The original poem in French is so much fun to read out loud, and Larned kept that aspect of it. The English version is fun too. 

I enjoyed all of the poems but decided to focus on the first one, The Hare and the Tortoise. In the poem the hare challenges the tortoise to a race knowing he will win, however, he plays around too much and the tortoise ends up beating him. The moral of the story is that slow and steady wins the race. 

(Image Information: Tortoise and Hare, Blogspot)