Jupiter and the Passenger by Jean de La Fontaine

The poem condemns people who make lavish promises to the gods in danger and forget them once safe. A passenger threatened by the sea vows a hundred oxen to Jupiter, though he owns none. After reaching shore, he offers only smoke from a few meatless bones and declares himself free of his debt. Jupiter appears to accept the offering, but later sends him a dream of hidden treasure. The passenger rushes after it and meets robbers; having only a crown, he promises them a hundred talents of gold supposedly concealed in a village. Suspecting deceit, the robbers tell him to take his gold to Pluto.

By Jean de La Fontaine · First published 1678 · Genre: Fable, Didactic Literature, Moral Tale · 426 words

First lines

How danger would the gods enrich, / If we the vows remember'd which / It drives us to! But, danger past, / Kind Providence is paid the last. / No earthly debt is treated so. / 'Now, Jove,' the wretch exclaims, 'will wait; / He sends no sheriff to one's gate, / Like creditors below; ' / But, let me ask the dolt, / What means the thunderbolt?

• Open reader

Similar titles

• The Woodman And Mercury by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Monkey And The Cat by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Curate And The Corpse by Jean De La Fontaine
• Jupiter And The Thunderbolts by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Wallet by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Ingratitude And Injustice Of Men Towards Fortune by Jean De La Fontaine

Genres

• Fable — The work is a short moral narrative featuring Jupiter, a foolish passenger, and an explicit lesson about broken vows and divine retribution; it is attributed to Aesopic tradition.
• Didactic Literature — Its primary purpose is moral instruction, condemning ingratitude, dishonesty, and the tendency to forget promises made in danger.
• Moral Tale — The plot centers on a character whose deceptive attempt to evade a religious obligation leads directly to punishment.
• Satire — La Fontaine mocks the passenger's absurd bargaining, false piety, and confidence that Jupiter will not collect a debt as a human creditor would.

Tags

French fable · verse narrative · seventeenth-century literature · classical mythology · Jupiter · Pluto · Aesopian tradition · sea voyage · shipwreck peril · vows to the gods · broken promises · religious hypocrisy

What this Textopian page supports

Jupiter and the Passenger is listed on Textopian as a fable by Jean de La Fontaine, dated 1678 CE.

This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.

• Work type: Fable
• Author: Jean de La Fontaine
• Date: 1678 CE
• Language: English
• Genres: Fable, Didactic Literature, Moral Tale, Satire, Mythological Fiction
• Length: 426 words
• Structure: 1 section, 3 paragraphs
• Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)

Good citation fit

• Work identity for Jupiter and the Passenger by Jean de La Fontaine
• Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
• Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
• Readability and classroom-planning context
• Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph

More by Jean de La Fontaine

• To Monseigneur the Dauphin (1668)
• The Grasshopper and the Ant (1668)
• The Raven and the Fox (1668)
• The Frog that Wished to be as Big as the Ox (1668)
• The Two Mules (1668)
• The Wolf and the Dog (1668)
• The Heifer, the Goat, and the Sheep, in Company with the Lion (1668)
• The Wallet (1668)
• All works by Jean de La Fontaine