The Dog that Carried his Master's Dinner

Name: The Dog that Carried his Master's Dinner
Author: Jean de La Fontaine

A well-trained, temperate dog carries his master’s dinner around his neck and faithfully resists eating it himself. When a mastiff attacks him for the meat, the dog sets down his burden and fights, but other dogs gather until he is outmatched. Facing the likely loss of the dinner, he calmly proposes to share it, claiming that one morsel will satisfy him and the rest may take the remainder. He then becomes the first to violate his charge by taking a mouthful, after which the mastiff, curs, and pups consume everything. The fable compares this conduct to the abuse of public revenues in towns and states. Sheriffs, aldermen, and mayors each take generous shares, following the example of the strongest, until they have emptied the public chest. Anyone who protests is treated as unreasonable and is easily induced to surrender, perhaps by joining the offenders first.

By Jean de La Fontaine · First published 1678 · Genre: Fable, Moral Allegory, Satire · 536 words

First lines

Our eyes are not made proof against the fair, / Nor hands against the touch of gold. / Fidelity is sadly rare, / And has been from the days of old. / Well taught his appetite to check, / And do full many a handy trick, / A dog was trotting, light and quick, / His master's dinner on his neck. / A temperate, self-denying dog was he, / More than, with such a load, he liked to be. / But still he was, while many such as we / Would not have scrupled to make free. / Strange that to dogs a virtue you may teach, / Which, do your best, to men you vainly preach! / This dog of ours, thus richly fitted out, / A mastiff met, who wish'd the meat, no doubt. / To get it was less easy than he thought: / The porter laid it down and fought. / Meantime some other dogs arrive: / Such dogs are always thick enough, / And, fearing neither kick nor cuff, / Upon the public thrive. / Our hero, thus o'ermatch'd and press'd, -- / The meat in danger manifest, -- / Is fain to share it with the rest; / And, looking very calm and wise, / 'No anger, gentlemen,' he cries: / 'My morsel will myself suffice; / The rest shall be your welcome prize. ' / With this, the first his charge to violate, / He snaps a mouthful from his freight. / Then follow mastiff, cur, and pup, / Till all is cleanly eaten up. / Not sparingly the party feasted, / And not a dog of all but tasted.

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Genres

Fable — The poem uses talking, morally representative animals in a brief narrative that concludes with an explicit lesson about human conduct and public corruption.
Moral Allegory — The dogs' gradual theft of the dinner allegorically represents officials and powerful people dividing and misusing public revenue.
Satire — La Fontaine sharply mocks sheriffs, aldermen, mayors, and other civic figures who exploit communal funds while imitating one another's corruption.
Political Satire — Its final movement directly attacks the administration of towns and states, portraying public office as an opportunity for greed and embezzlement.

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The Dog that Carried his Master's Dinner is listed on Textopian as a fable by Jean de La Fontaine, dated 1678 CE.

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Work type: Fable
Author: Jean de La Fontaine
Date: 1678 CE
Language: English
Genres: Fable, Moral Allegory, Satire, Political Satire, Didactic Poetry
Length: 536 words
Structure: 1 section, 2 paragraphs
Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)

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