The Carter in the Mire by Jean de La Fontaine

Name: The Carter in the Mire
Author: Jean de La Fontaine

A carter hauling hay in a remote part of Brittany finds his cart stuck axle-deep in mud. Alone and enraged, he curses the mire, his team, the cart, the load, and himself before calling on Hercules for help. A voice from a cloud tells him that he must first act for himself: he should examine the obstruction, clear the mud around the wheels, use his tools to move or break a stone, and fill a rut. After he obeys, the voice tells him to take up his whip, and the cart begins to move easily. Hercules teaches that Heaven helps those who help themselves.

By Jean de La Fontaine · First published 1668 · Genre: Fable, Moral Literature, Didactic Poetry · 517 words

First lines

The Phaëton who drove a load of hay / Once found his cart bemired. / Poor man! the spot was far away / From human help -- retired, / In some rude country place, / In Brittany, as near as I can trace, / Near Quimper Corentan, -- / A town that poet never sang, -- / Which Fate, they say, puts in the traveller's path, / When she would rouse the man to special wrath. / May Heaven preserve us from that route! / But to our carter, hale and stout: -- / Fast stuck his cart; he swore his worst, / And, fill'd with rage extreme, / The mud-holes now he cursed, / And now he cursed his team, / And now his cart and load, -- / Anon, the like upon himself bestow'd. / Upon the god he call'd at length, / Most famous through the world for strength. / 'O, help me, Hercules! ' cried he; / 'For if thy back of yore / This burly planet bore, / Thy arm can set me free. ' / This prayer gone up, from out a cloud there broke / A voice which thus in godlike accents spoke: -- / 'The suppliant must himself bestir, / Ere Hercules will aid confer. / Look wisely in the proper quarter, / To see what hindrance can be found; / Remove the execrable mud and mortar, / Which, axle-deep, beset thy wheels around. / Thy sledge and crowbar take, / And pry me up that stone, or break; / Now fill that rut upon the other side. / Hast done it? ' 'Yes,' the man replied. / 'Well,' said the voice, 'I'll aid thee now; / Take up thy whip. ' 'I have... but, how? / My cart glides on with ease! / I thank thee, Hercules. ' / 'Thy team,' rejoin'd the voice, 'has light ado; / So help thyself, and Heaven will help thee too. '[1]

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Similar titles

Genres

Fable — This brief narrative uses a simple rural predicament, personified divine intervention, and an explicit moral lesson: people must act for themselves before expecting help.
Moral Literature — Its central purpose is didactic, teaching self-reliance, practical effort, and the principle expressed by the concluding maxim, 'help thyself, and Heaven will help thee too.'
Didactic Poetry — Written in verse, the work instructs readers through an illustrative story rather than through abstract argument or direct sermonizing.
Allegory — The stuck cart represents human difficulties more broadly, while Hercules's response allegorizes the necessity of individual initiative before divine or external assistance.

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The Carter in the Mire 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, Moral Literature, Didactic Poetry, Allegory, Narrative Poetry
Length: 517 words
Structure: 1 section, 2 paragraphs
Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)

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