Phoebus and Boreas by Jean de La Fontaine

Name: Phoebus and Boreas
Author: Jean de La Fontaine

Old Boreas challenges Phoebus to a wager over which of them can first make a well-cloaked traveller remove his mantle. Boreas unleashes thunder, hail, rain, and violent winds, tearing roofs and driving vessels toward wreck, but the traveller responds by gripping his cloak ever more tightly. Phoebus then disperses the clouds and gently warms the traveller until he sweats and willingly takes off his mantle. The contest shows that mildness accomplishes more than force.

By Jean de La Fontaine · First published 1668 · Genre: Fable, Didactic Literature, Allegory · 559 words

First lines

Old Boreas and the sun, one day / Espied a traveller on his way, / Whose dress did happily provide / Against whatever might betide. / The time was autumn, when, indeed, / All prudent travellers take heed. / The rains that then the sunshine dash, / And Iris with her splendid sash, / Warn one who does not like to soak / To wear abroad a good thick cloak. / Our man was therefore well bedight / With double mantle, strong and tight. / 'This fellow,' said the wind, 'has meant / To guard from every ill event; / But little does he wot that I / Can blow him such a blast / That, not a button fast, / His cloak shall cleave the sky. / Come, here's a pleasant game, Sir Sun! / Wilt play? ' Said Phoebus, 'Done! / We'll bet between us here / Which first will take the gear / From off this cavalier. / Begin, and shut away. / The brightness of my ray. ' / 'Enough. ' Our blower, on the bet, / Swell'd out his pursy form / With all the stuff for storm -- / The thunder, hail, and drenching wet, / And all the fury he could muster; / Then, with a very demon's bluster, / He whistled, whirl'd, and splash'd, / And down the torrents dash'd, / Full many a roof uptearing / He never did before, / Full many a vessel bearing / To wreck upon the shore, -- / And all to doff a single cloak. / But vain the furious stroke; / The traveller was stout, / And kept the tempest out, / Defied the hurricane, / Defied the pelting rain; / And as the fiercer roar'd the blast, / His cloak the tighter held he fast. / The sun broke out, to win the bet; / He caused the clouds to disappear, / Refresh'd and warm'd the cavalier, / And through his mantle made him sweat, / Till off it came, of course, / In less than half an hour; / And yet the sun saved half his power. -- / So much doth mildness more than force.[1]

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Similar titles

Genres

Fable — The poem is a concise moral tale in which personified natural forces compete, ending with the explicit lesson that gentleness accomplishes more than force.
Didactic Literature — Its central purpose is instruction: Boreas's failed violence and Phoebus's successful warmth demonstrate an ethical and practical principle about persuasion.
Allegory — The contest between the Wind and the Sun operates as an allegorical contrast between coercion and mildness, with the traveller representing those subject to influence.
Narrative Poetry — The work tells a complete story through verse, including setting, dialogue, action, conflict, climax, and resolution.

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Phoebus and Boreas is listed on Textopian as a fable by Jean de La Fontaine, dated 1668 CE.

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Work type: Fable
Author: Jean de La Fontaine
Date: 1668 CE
Language: English
Genres: Fable, Didactic Literature, Allegory, Narrative Poetry, Moral Poetry
Length: 559 words
Structure: 1 section, 2 paragraphs
Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)

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