The Cat and the Fox by Jean de La Fontaine

The cat and the fox travel together on pilgrimage, posing as saints while secretly living by theft and deception, eating fowl, cheese, and whatever else they can obtain. They pass the road in constant argument, until Renard boasts that he possesses a hundred clever tricks, all ready for use. The cat admits she has only one trick, but insists that it is worth more than a thousand. Their dispute is interrupted by the approach of dogs and men. The cat challenges the fox to use his many devices to save himself, then demonstrates her single resource by climbing a lofty pine. Renard tries one ruse after another, fleeing in every direction and repeatedly deceiving the hounds, yet he cannot find safety. He fears being trapped in a hole with terriers or smoke, and when he leaps upward, two dogs catch and choke him. The tale concludes that too many expedients can waste the time needed for choice and action, and that in danger it is better to depend on one reliable means.

By Jean de La Fontaine · First published 1678 · Genre: Fable, Didactic Literature, Animal Tale · 531 words

First lines

The cat and fox, when saints were all the rage, / Together went on pilgrimage. / Arch hypocrites and swindlers, they, / By sleight of face and sleight of paw, / Regardless both of right and law, / Contrived expenses to repay, / By eating many a fowl and cheese, / And other tricks as bad as these. / Disputing served them to beguile / The road of many a weary mile. / Disputing! but for this resort, / The world would go to sleep, in short. / Our pilgrims, as a thing of course, / Disputed till their throats were hoarse. / Then, dropping to a lower tone, / They talk'd of this, and talk'd of that, / Till Renard whisper'd to the cat, / 'You think yourself a knowing one: / How many cunning tricks have you? / For I've a hundred, old and new, / All ready in my haversack. ' / The cat replied, 'I do not lack, / Though with but one provided; / And, truth to honour, for that matter, / I hold it than a thousand better. ' / In fresh dispute they sided; / And loudly were they at it, when / Approach'd a mob of dogs and men. / 'Now,' said the cat, 'your tricks ransack, / And put your cunning brains to rack, / One life to save; I'll show you mine -- / A trick, you see, for saving nine. ' / With that, she climb'd a lofty pine. / The fox his hundred ruses tried, / And yet no safety found. / A hundred times he falsified / The nose of every hound. -- / Was here, and there, and everywhere, / Above, and under ground; / But yet to stop he did not dare, / Pent in a hole, it was no joke, / To meet the terriers or the smoke. / So, leaping into upper air, / He met two dogs, that choked him there.

• Open reader

Similar titles

• The Cat And The Old Rat by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Lion The Wolf And The Fox by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Two Cocks by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Sick Lion And The Fox by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Wolf Turned Shepherd by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Two Mules by Jean De La Fontaine

Genres

• Fable — The poem uses talking animals, a concise narrative, and an explicit concluding moral about relying on one effective remedy rather than many delayed expedients.
• Didactic Literature — Its central purpose is instruction: the fox's death and the cat's escape demonstrate that practical judgment is superior to excessive, indecisive cunning.
• Animal Tale — A cat and a fox serve as the principal characters, behaving as human-like pilgrims, disputants, tricksters, and moral exemplars.
• Allegory — The animals represent recognizable human types: the cat embodies simple practical wisdom, while the fox embodies boastful overconfidence and ineffective sophistication.

Tags

French fable · verse narrative · animal allegory · moral tale · seventeenth-century France · pilgrimage · religious hypocrisy · fraud and deception · thievery · cat and fox · anthropomorphic animals · argument and boasting

What this Textopian page supports

The Cat and the Fox 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, Didactic Literature, Animal Tale, Allegory, Satire
• Length: 531 words
• Structure: 1 section, 2 paragraphs
• Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)

Good citation fit

• Work identity for The Cat and the Fox by Jean de La Fontaine
• Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
• 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