The Ass Carrying Relics by Jean de La Fontaine

An ass carrying relics mistakes the reverence shown along the road for homage to himself. Proudly accepting incense and prayers, he behaves as though he deserves worship. A spectator rebukes him, explaining that people honour not the donkey but the sacred objects he bears, while he himself is only a lowly instrument. The fable compares him to an unintelligent magistrate who receives respect because of his official robe rather than personal merit.

By Jean de La Fontaine · First published 1668 · Genre: Fable, Didactic Literature, Satire · 153 words

First lines

An ass, with relics for his load, / Supposed the worship on the road / Meant for himself alone, / And took on lofty airs, / Receiving as his own / The incense and the prayers. / Some one, who saw his great mistake, / Cried, 'Master Donkey, do not make / Yourself so big a fool. / Not you they worship, but your pack; / They praise the idols on your back, / And count yourself a paltry tool.'

'Tis thus a brainless magistrate / Is honour'd for his robe of state.[1]

[1]: Aesop; also Faerno.

• Open reader

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Genres

• Fable — A brief moral tale using an anthropomorphized ass to expose vanity and mistaken self-importance, ending with an explicit lesson.
• Didactic Literature — The poem is designed to instruct readers against confusing respect for an office, symbol, or possession with personal merit.
• Satire — It satirizes vain officials and magistrates who mistake public deference toward their rank or robes for admiration of themselves.
• Allegory — The ass and its sacred burden represent people who derive undeserved status from external authority, while the magistrate supplies the allegory's social application.

Tags

fable · verse fable · moral allegory · French literature · seventeenth-century literature · animal protagonist · donkey · sacred relics · religious worship · incense and prayers · mistaken identity · vain pride

What this Textopian page supports

The Ass Carrying Relics is listed on Textopian as a fable by Jean de La Fontaine, dated 1668 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: 1668 CE
• Language: English
• Genres: Fable, Didactic Literature, Satire, Allegory, Moral Poetry
• Length: 153 words
• Structure: 1 section, 3 paragraphs

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• Work identity for The Ass Carrying Relics by Jean de La Fontaine
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• Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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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