The Arbiter, the Almoner, and the Hermit

Name: The Arbiter, the Almoner, and the Hermit
Author: Jean de La Fontaine

In “The Arbiter, the Almoner, and the Hermit,” three devout men pursue salvation by different paths. One becomes an unpaid judge, hoping to reduce the destructive legal disputes that consume so much of human life. Another devotes himself to hospitals, seeking to relieve suffering through charity. The third withdraws from society and lives alone as a hermit. The arbiter finds that neither side in a dispute accepts his judgments. Each party believes he favours the other and has failed to hold the balance fairly. The almoner is likewise met with ingratitude from the sick, who complain that he gives excessive care to his favourites while neglecting the rest. Wearied by constant murmurs and accusations, the arbiter visits the almoner; since both have received complaints instead of gratitude, they leave their duties and go to the woods. Near a rugged mountain and a silent fountain, in a secluded place unknown to the sun, they find the hermit. They ask him for wise counsel. He replies that they must find their own answer, since no one else can know their needs as well as they do. The first command, he says, is to know oneself, and such knowledge belongs to tranquillity rather than to crowds and agitation. A disturbed pool cannot reflect a face; similarly, a troubled mind cannot reveal the self. But when the water is left still, each person can see his own features. For inward reflection, the hermit concludes, a desert dwelling is best. His brief advice is accepted. Yet the poem acknowledges that ordinary business cannot be removed from life: people will continue to fall ill and bring lawsuits, and physicians and advocates will remain plentiful because wealth and honours attract them. Those who are immersed in public duties, however, often forget themselves. Judges, princes, and ministers, troubled by accidents, opposing forces, and flattering influences, rarely gain the quiet needed for serious self-examination. The lesson is offered especially to kings and wise people: amid the demands of public service, they must seek the stillness in which they can truly see themselves.

By Jean de La Fontaine · First published 1694 · Genre: Fable, Moral Philosophy, Didactic Poetry · 950 words

First lines

Three saints, for their salvation jealous, / Pursued, with hearts alike most zealous, / By routes diverse, their common aim. / All highways lead to Rome: the same / Of heaven our rivals deeming true, / Each chose alone his pathway to pursue. / Moved by the cares, delays, and crosses / Attach'd to suits by legal process, / One gave himself as judge, without reward, / For earthly fortune having small regard. / Since there are laws, to legal strife / Man damns himself for half his life. / For half? -- Three-fourths! -- perhaps the whole! / The hope possess'd our umpire's soul, / That on his plan he should be able / To cure this vice detestable. -- / The second chose the hospitals. / I give him praise: to solace pain / Is charity not spent in vain, / While men in part are animals. / The sick -- for things went then as now they go -- / Gave trouble to the almoner, I trow. / Impatient, sour, complaining ever, / As rack'd by rheum, or parch'd with fever, -- / 'His favourites are such and such; / With them he watches over-much, / And lets us die,' they say, -- / Such sore complaints from day to day / Were nought to those that did await / The reconciler of debate. / His judgments suited neither side; / Forsooth, in either party's view, / He never held the balance true, / But swerved in every cause he tried.

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Genres

Fable — The work is explicitly structured as a moral tale featuring exemplary figures, a symbolic situation, and a concluding lesson intended for readers and rulers.
Moral Philosophy — Its central argument concerns self-knowledge, inner tranquillity, and the difficulty of understanding oneself amid public activity and emotional disturbance.
Didactic Poetry — Written in verse, the poem aims directly to instruct its audience through reflection, aphorism, metaphor, and an explicit closing moral.
Religious Allegory — Three saints pursue salvation through judging, charity, and solitude, while their occupations and retreat represent contrasting spiritual paths.

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The Arbiter, the Almoner, and the Hermit is listed on Textopian as a fable by Jean de La Fontaine, dated 1694 CE.

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Work type: Fable
Author: Jean de La Fontaine
Date: 1694 CE
Language: English
Genres: Fable, Moral Philosophy, Didactic Poetry, Religious Allegory, Satire
Length: 950 words
Structure: 1 section, 5 paragraphs
Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)

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