The Battle of the Rats and the Weasels

The weasels and rats are natural enemies, and the rats survive chiefly because they can squeeze through openings too narrow for their long-snouted foes. In a year when the rats have multiplied, they raise an army armed with spears and shields under King Ratapon. The weasels likewise march beneath their banner, and a fierce battle begins. Although the victory is long uncertain and the fields are filled with the dead, the rats suffer the greater losses. Even the brave captains Artarpax, Psicarpax, and Meridarpax cannot prevent the defeat. When fate turns against them, the rat leaders and their troops flee, while the princes are killed. Ordinary rats escape by rushing into holes and crevices. The noble rats, however, have proudly put on plumed helmets, whether for honour or to frighten their enemies. Their elaborate headgear prevents them from entering the narrow shelters, while the humbler rats pass through easily. Their vanity and display become fatal, illustrating that grandeur and excessive finery can hinder those who possess them, whereas the small can often escape where the great cannot.

By Jean de La Fontaine · First published 1668 · Genre: Fable, Didactic Literature, Animal Tale · 581 words

First lines

The weasels live, no more than cats, / On terms of friendship with the rats; / And, were it not that these / Through doors contrive to squeeze / Too narrow for their foes, / The animals long-snouted / Would long ago have routed, / And from the planet scouted / Their race, as I suppose.

• Open reader

Similar titles

• The Two Mules by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Council Held By The Rats by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Animals Sending Tribute To Alexander by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Jay In The Feathers Of The Peacock by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Lion And The Ass Hunting by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Bat And The Two Weasels by Jean De La Fontaine

Genres

• Fable — The poem uses talking animals in a concise narrative to deliver an explicit moral lesson about pride, status, and impractical display.
• Didactic Literature — Its central purpose is instruction: the defeat of the helmeted rat nobles demonstrates that vanity and excessive grandeur can become fatal liabilities.
• Animal Tale — Rats and weasels act as human-like political and military groups, while their natural physical traits remain essential to the plot.
• Satire — The work mockingly portrays aristocratic pretension, especially nobles whose ornamental helmets prevent them from escaping danger.

Tags

French fable · animal allegory · verse narrative · seventeenth-century literature · war between animals · rats · weasels · military conflict · battlefield · defeat and flight · social hierarchy · nobility

What this Textopian page supports

The Battle of the Rats and the Weasels 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, Animal Tale, Satire, Allegory
• Length: 581 words
• Structure: 1 section, 5 paragraphs
• Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)

Good citation fit

• Work identity for The Battle of the Rats and the Weasels 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