The Drunkard and his Wife by Jean de La Fontaine

Name: The Drunkard and his Wife
Author: Jean de La Fontaine

A sot who has ruined his health, mind, and purse through drink is shut by his wife inside a spacious tomb while he sleeps off the effects of wine. When he wakes, he is wrapped in damp grave-clothes beneath a sepulchral lamp and believes himself dead, imagining his wife a sorrowful widow. His wife appears with snaky hair, robes like those the text attributes to the Furies, and a voice fit for the realms below. She brings him boiling caudle, convincing him that he is a citizen of Hades. When he asks her office, she says she serves up Pluto’s meat to his guests. Still ruled by his desire for drink, the sot immediately asks whether she brings them anything to drink.

By Jean de La Fontaine · First published 1668 · Genre: Fable, Didactic Literature, Satire · 371 words

First lines

Each has his fault, to which he clings / In spite of shame or fear. / This apophthegm a story brings, / To make its truth more clear. / A sot had lost health, mind, and purse; / And, truly, for that matter, / Sots mostly lose the latter / Ere running half their course. / When wine, one day, of wit had fill'd the room, / His wife inclosed him in a spacious tomb. / There did the fumes evaporate / At leisure from his drowsy pate. / When he awoke, he found / His body wrapp'd around / With grave-clothes, chill and damp, / Beneath a dim sepulchral lamp. / 'How's this? My wife a widow sad? ' / He cried, 'and I a ghost? Dead? dead? ' / Thereat his spouse, with snaky hair, / And robes like those the Furies wear, / With voice to fit the realms below, / Brought boiling caudle to his bier -- / For Lucifer the proper cheer; / By which her husband came to know -- / For he had heard of those three ladies -- / Himself a citizen of Hades. / 'What may your office be? ' / The phantom question'd he. / 'I'm server up of Pluto's meat, / And bring his guests the same to eat. ' / 'Well,' says the sot, not taking time to think, / 'And don't you bring us anything to drink? '[1]

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Genres

Fable — The poem tells a concise, exemplary story designed to illustrate the stated moral that people cling to their faults despite shame, fear, and damaging consequences.
Didactic Literature — Its explicit apophthegm, cautionary plot, and moral purpose instruct readers about the self-destructive persistence of vice, especially drunkenness.
Satire — La Fontaine mocks the drunkard's degradation and his inability to stop thinking about drink even when he believes he is in Hades.
Comic Poetry — The work uses an absurd practical joke, exaggerated infernal imagery, and a punchline centered on the drunkard requesting alcohol in the afterlife.

What this Textopian page supports

The Drunkard and his Wife 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, Didactic Literature, Satire, Comic Poetry, Narrative Poetry
Length: 371 words
Structure: 1 section, 2 paragraphs
Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)

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