The Eagle, the Wild Sow, and the Cat

In “The Eagle, the Wild Sow, and the Cat,” an eagle, a wild sow, and a female cat live with their young in different parts of the same hollow tree and are initially good neighbours. The cat, however, maliciously destroys their peace. She tells the eagle that the sow is digging beneath the tree in order to uproot it and eat the eagle’s young. She then warns the sow that the eagle will seize her pigs if she leaves them. Terrified for their offspring, the eagle refuses to leave her nest to seek food, while the sow will not leave her pigs. Each fears the other: the eagle fears the sow’s mine, and the sow fears the eagle’s claws. Their stubborn confinement brings famine upon both families, and the eagle, the sow, and all their young die of hunger. The cat profits from their deaths. The fable condemns deceitful speech as the most abhorrent of evils, capable of turning fear into destruction.

By Jean de La Fontaine · First published 1668 · Genre: Fable, Didactic Literature, Animal Tale · 655 words

First lines

A certain hollow tree / Was tenanted by three. / An eagle held a lofty bough, / The hollow root a wild wood sow, / A female cat between the two. / All busy with maternal labours, / They lived awhile obliging neighbours. / At last the cat's deceitful tongue / Broke up the peace of old and young. / Up climbing to the eagle's nest, / She said, with whisker'd lips compress'd, / 'Our death, or, what as much we mothers fear, / That of our helpless offspring dear, / Is surely drawing near. / Beneath our feet, see you not how / Destruction's plotted by the sow? / Her constant digging, soon or late, / Our proud old castle will uproot. / And then -- O, sad and shocking fate! -- / She'll eat our young ones, as the fruit! / Were there but hope of saving one, / 'Twould soothe somewhat my bitter moan. ' / Thus leaving apprehensions hideous, / Down went the puss perfidious / To where the sow, no longer digging, / Was in the very act of pigging. / 'Good friend and neighbour,' whisper'd she, / 'I warn you on your guard to be. / Your pigs should you but leave a minute, / This eagle here will seize them in it. / Speak not of this, I beg, at all, / Lest on my head her wrath should fall. ' / Another breast with fear inspired, / With fiendish joy the cat retired. / The eagle ventured no egress / To feed her young, the sow still less. / Fools they, to think that any curse / Than ghastly famine could be worse! / Both staid at home, resolved and obstinate, / To save their young ones from impending fate, -- / The royal bird for fear of mine, / For fear of royal claws the swine. / All died, at length, with hunger, / The older and the younger; / There staid, of eagle race or boar, / Not one this side of death's dread door; -- / A sad misfortune, which / The wicked cats made rich. / O, what is there of hellish plot / The treacherous tongue dares not! / Of all the ills Pandora's box[1] outpour'd, / Deceit, I think, is most to be abhorr'd.[2]

• Open reader

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Genres

• Fable — The poem uses talking animals in an allegorical situation and concludes with an explicit moral condemning deceit.
• Didactic Literature — Its central purpose is moral instruction: the cat's lies destroy two families, illustrating the destructive consequences of treachery and fear.
• Animal Tale — An eagle, sow, and cat act as principal characters, with animal behavior adapted to convey human motives, conflicts, and social lessons.
• Allegory — The animals function as recognizable moral types: the cat represents malicious deception, while the eagle and sow represent victims manipulated by distrust.

Tags

French fable · verse narrative · animal fable · seventeenth-century literature · moral allegory · deceit · treacherous speech · malicious gossip · fear · manipulation · maternal protection · parental anxiety

What this Textopian page supports

The Eagle, the Wild Sow, and the Cat is listed on Textopian as a fable by Jean de La Fontaine, dated 1668 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: 1668 CE
• Language: English
• Genres: Fable, Didactic Literature, Animal Tale, Allegory, Narrative Poetry
• Length: 655 words
• Structure: 1 section, 3 paragraphs
• Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)

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• Work identity for The Eagle, the Wild Sow, and the Cat 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