The Cat and the Rat by Jean de La Fontaine

Name: The Cat and the Rat
Author: Jean de La Fontaine

The Cat and the Rat tells how a cat, an owl, a rat, and a weasel live in a rotten pine until a man sets a snare near their home. The cat, leaving at dawn to hunt, is caught in the noose. The rat rejoices at first, seeing his deadly enemy trapped, but the cat begs him to cut the cord. She flatters him, calls him her favourite, and promises that her claws will protect him from the weasel and owl if he frees her. The rat distrusts her and retreats, but he soon encounters the weasel below and the owl within the hollow tree. Forced by danger to seek safety, he returns to gnaw through the rope. He frees the cat just as the man appears, and the two temporary allies escape. Later, the cat sees the rat safely beyond her reach and reproaches him for avoiding her, claiming that he should trust the oath she made. The rat answers that a cat’s nature cannot be bound to gratitude or pity by any treaty. The tale concludes that an alliance born of necessity remains safe only for as long as necessity requires it.

By Jean de La Fontaine · First published 1678 · Genre: Fable, Animal Tale, Didactic Literature · 811 words

First lines

Four creatures, wont to prowl, -- / Sly Grab-and-Snatch, the cat, / Grave Evil-bode, the owl, / Thief Nibble-stitch, the rat, / And Madam Weasel, prim and fine, -- / Inhabited a rotten pine. / A man their home discover'd there, / And set, one night, a cunning snare. / The cat, a noted early-riser, / Went forth, at break of day, / To hunt her usual prey. / Not much the wiser / For morning's feeble ray, / The noose did suddenly surprise her. / Waked by her strangling cry, / Grey Nibble-stitch drew nigh: / As full of joy was he / As of despair was she, / For in the noose he saw / His foe of mortal paw. / 'Dear friend,' said Mrs. Grab-and-Snatch, / 'Do, pray, this cursed cord detach. / I've always known your skill, / And often your good-will; / Now help me from this worst of snares, / In which I fell at unawares. / 'Tis by a sacred right, / You, sole of all your race, / By special love and grace, / Have been my favourite -- / The darling of my eyes. / 'Twas order'd by celestial cares, / No doubt; I thank the blessed skies, / That, going out to say my prayers, / As cats devout each morning do, / This net has made me pray to you. / Come, fall to work upon the cord. ' / Replied the rat, 'And what reward / Shall pay me, if I dare? ' / 'Why,' said the cat, 'I swear / To be your firm ally: / Henceforth, eternally, / These powerful claws are yours, / Which safe your life insures. / I'll guard from quadruped and fowl; / I'll eat the weasel and the owl. ' / 'Ah,' cried the rat, 'you fool! / I'm quite too wise to be your tool. ' / He said, and sought his snug retreat, / Close at the rotten pine-tree's feet. / Where plump he did the weasel meet; / Whom shunning by a happy dodge, / He climb'd the hollow trunk to lodge; / And there the savage owl he saw. / Necessity became his law, / And down he went, the rope to gnaw. / Strand after strand in two he bit, / And freed, at last, the hypocrite. / That moment came the man in sight; / The new allies took hasty flight.

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Similar titles

Genres

Fable — The poem uses talking animals in a brief moral narrative and ends with an explicit lesson about alliances formed from necessity.
Animal Tale — A cat, rat, owl, and weasel act as the central characters, with their natural predator-prey relationships driving the plot.
Didactic Literature — Its principal purpose is instruction: it warns that self-interested alliances endure only while circumstances require them.
Moral Tale — The conflict between the trapped cat and endangered rat illustrates distrust, expedience, hypocrisy, and prudent self-preservation.

What this Textopian page supports

The Cat and the Rat 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, Animal Tale, Didactic Literature, Moral Tale, Allegory
Length: 811 words
Structure: 1 section, 4 paragraphs
Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)

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