The Bear and the Amateur Gardener

A lonely mountain bear and an aged gardener are both made miserable by isolation and seek company. They meet in a solitary place, overcome their initial fear, and become friendly. The gardener welcomes the bear to his garden with fruit and milk, while the bear hunts and brings him game. Though the bear is a poor conversational companion, he tries diligently to protect the old man, especially from the flies that bite his face. One day, as the gardener sleeps on the ground, a fly buzzes about his nose. Determined to kill it, the bear takes up a paving-stone and strikes. He kills both the fly and his sleeping friend. The fable warns that a foolish friend can bring greater harm than even a wise enemy.

By Jean de La Fontaine · First published 1678 · Genre: Fable, Moral Tale, Animal Tale · 888 words

First lines

A certain mountain bear, unlick'd and rude, / By fate confined within a lonely wood, / A new Bellerophon,[1] whose life, / Knew neither comrade, friend, nor wife, -- / Became insane; for reason, as we term it, / Dwells never long with any hermit. / 'Tis good to mix in good society, / Obeying rules of due propriety; / And better yet to be alone; / But both are ills when overdone. / No animal had business where / All grimly dwelt our hermit bear; / Hence, bearish as he was, he grew / Heart-sick, and long'd for something new. / While he to sadness was addicted, / An aged man, not far from there, / Was by the same disease afflicted. / A garden was his favourite care, -- / Sweet Flora's priesthood, light and fair, / And eke Pomona's -- ripe and red / The presents that her fingers shed. / These two employments, true, are sweet / When made so by some friend discreet. / The gardens, gaily as they look, / Talk not, (except in this my book; ) / So, tiring of the deaf and dumb, / Our man one morning left his home / Some company to seek, / That had the power to speak. -- / The bear, with thoughts the same, / Down from his mountain came; / And in a solitary place, / They met each other, face to face. / It would have made the boldest tremble; / What did our man? To play the Gascon / The safest seem'd. He put the mask on, / His fear contriving to dissemble. / The bear, unused to compliment, / Growl'd bluntly, but with good intent, / 'Come home with me. ' The man replied: / 'Sir Bear, my lodgings, nearer by, / In yonder garden you may spy, / Where, if you'll honour me the while, / We'll break our fast in rural style. / I've fruits and milk, -- unworthy fare, / It may be, for a wealthy bear; / But then I offer what I have. ' / The bear accepts, with visage grave, / But not unpleased; and on their way, / They grow familiar, friendly, gay. / Arrived, you see them, side by side, / As if their friendship had been tried. / To a companion so absurd, / Blank solitude were well preferr'd, / Yet, as the bear scarce spoke a word, / The man was left quite at his leisure / To trim his garden at his pleasure. / Sir Bruin hunted -- always brought / His friend whatever game he caught; / But chiefly aim'd at driving flies -- / Those hold and shameless parasites, / That vex us with their ceaseless bites -- / From off our gardener's face and eyes. / One day, while, stretch'd upon the ground / The old man lay, in sleep profound, / A fly that buzz'd around his nose, -- / And bit it sometimes, I suppose, -- / Put Bruin sadly to his trumps. / At last, determined, up he jumps; / 'I'll stop thy noisy buzzing now,' / Says he; 'I know precisely how. ' / No sooner said than done. / He seized a paving-stone; / And by his modus operandi / Did both the fly and man die.

• Open reader

Similar titles

• The Eagle The Wild Sow And The Cat by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Lion And The Hunter by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Old Woman And Her Two Servants by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Animals Sending Tribute To Alexander by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Gardener And His Lord by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Sun And The Frogs Book Vi by Jean De La Fontaine

Genres

• Fable — The narrative uses a bear and a gardener to dramatize a simple moral lesson, ending with the explicit maxim that a foolish friend can be more harmful than a wise enemy.
• Moral Tale — Its central purpose is ethical instruction: it warns readers against trusting well-intentioned but unintelligent or imprudent companions.
• Animal Tale — A bear is a principal character whose actions and humanlike friendship with the gardener drive the plot, although it retains its dangerous animal nature.
• Verse Narrative — The work tells a complete story in rhymed, metrical verse rather than prose.

Tags

French fable · verse narrative · seventeenth-century literature · moral allegory · loneliness · friendship · foolish friendship · wise enemies · isolation · companionship · mountain bear · elderly gardener

What this Textopian page supports

The Bear and the Amateur Gardener 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, Moral Tale, Animal Tale, Verse Narrative, Didactic Poetry
• Length: 888 words
• Structure: 1 section, 4 paragraphs
• Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)

Good citation fit

• Work identity for The Bear and the Amateur Gardener 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
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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