The Coach and the Fly by Jean de La Fontaine

A fly joins a coach struggling up a sandy hill, drawn by six weary horses while dames, monks, and invalids travel beside it. With great self-importance, the fly buzzes around the horses, bites them and the driver, and imagines that his efforts make the entire coach move. Once the team resumes its progress, he claims all the credit, darting about like a sergeant directing troops toward victory. Believing himself responsible for everyone’s welfare, the fly feels oppressed by the burden and complains that no one helps the horses. He reproaches the monk for praying and the dames for singing, though they pay little attention to his indignant buzzing. When the coach reaches the top of the hill, the fly tells the horses to rest, boasts that he has brought them uphill, and asks whether they will give him suitable payment. The fable compares him to intrusive busybodies who exaggerate their importance in public affairs and are more troublesome to endure than to dismiss.

By Jean de La Fontaine · First published 1678 · Genre: Fable, Didactic Literature, Satire · 528 words

First lines

Upon a sandy, uphill road, / Which naked in the sunshine glow'd, / Six lusty horses drew a coach. / Dames, monks, and invalids, its load, / On foot, outside, at leisure trode. / The team, all weary, stopp'd and blow'd: / Whereon there did a fly approach, / And, with a vastly business air. / Cheer'd up the horses with his buzz, -- / Now pricked them here, now prick'd them there, / As neatly as a jockey does, -- / And thought the while -- he knew 'twas so -- / He made the team and carriage go, -- / On carriage-pole sometimes alighting -- / Or driver's nose -- and biting. / And when the whole did get in motion, / Confirm'd and settled in the notion, / He took, himself, the total glory, -- / Flew back and forth in wondrous hurry, / And, as he buzz'd about the cattle, / Seem'd like a sergeant in a battle, / The files and squadrons leading on / To where the victory is won. / Thus charged with all the commonweal, / This single fly began to feel / Responsibility too great, / And cares, a grievous crushing weight; / And made complaint that none would aid / The horses up the tedious hill -- / The monk his prayers at leisure said -- / Fine time to pray! -- the dames, at will, / Were singing songs -- not greatly needed! / Thus in their ears he sharply sang, / And notes of indignation ran, -- / Notes, after all, not greatly heeded. / Erelong the coach was on the top: / 'Now,' said the fly, 'my hearties, stop / And breathe; -- I've got you up the hill; / And Messrs. Horses, let me say, / I need not ask you if you will / A proper compensation pay.'

• Open reader

Similar titles

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• The Man Between Two Ages And His Two Mistresses by Jean De La Fontaine
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Genres

• Fable — The poem is a short moral tale featuring an anthropomorphized fly whose vain behavior illustrates a lesson about self-important busybodies.
• Didactic Literature — Its central purpose is to instruct readers through a clearly stated moral condemning those who claim undue credit for others' work.
• Satire — La Fontaine ridicules vanity, officiousness, and false self-importance by presenting the fly's imagined indispensability as absurd.
• Allegory — The coach's journey and the fly's interference function as a symbolic representation of people who insert themselves into collective efforts and exaggerate their role.

Tags

French fable · verse narrative · seventeenth-century literature · moral allegory · Aesopian tradition · anthropomorphic fly · coach journey · sandy uphill road · weary horses · travelers · monks and ladies · animal imagery

What this Textopian page supports

The Coach and the Fly 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, Satire, Allegory, Narrative Poetry
• Length: 528 words
• Structure: 1 section, 3 paragraphs
• Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)

Good citation fit

• Work identity for The Coach and the Fly 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