The Ingratitude and Injustice of Men Towards For
A sea trader becomes immensely wealthy as favourable winds, safe voyages, honest associates, and eager buyers bring profit to every kind of merchandise he sells. His life fills with luxury, and when a friend asks the source of his splendour, he proudly attributes it solely to his own skill and careful judgment in trade. Encouraged by his gains, he risks his former profits again, but his imprudence leads to disaster. One badly laden ship is wrecked, another is seized by pirates because it lacks arms, and a third cannot sell its cargo because courtly fashion has changed. His agents and factors fail him, and he falls from riches, palaces, parks, and princely comforts into miserable poverty. When his friend asks what caused his ruin, the trader blames Fortune. The friend advises him that, even if Fortune will not make him rich, she cannot prevent him from becoming wise. The fable condemns those who take personal credit for prosperity yet ungratefully assign their misfortunes to Fate.
By Jean de La Fontaine · First published 1678 · Genre: Fable, Moral Tale, Didactic Poetry · 672 words
First lines
A trader on the sea to riches grew; / Freight after freight the winds in favour blew; / Fate steer'd him clear; gulf, rock, nor shoal / Of all his bales exacted toll. / Of other men the powers of chance and storm / Their dues collected in substantial form; / While smiling Fortune, in her kindest sport, / Took care to waft his vessels to their port. / His partners, factors, agents, faithful proved; / His goods -- tobacco, sugar, spice -- / Were sure to fetch the highest price. / By fashion and by folly loved, / His rich brocades and laces, / And splendid porcelain vases, / Enkindling strong desires, / Most readily found buyers. / In short, gold rain'd where'er he went -- / Abundance, more than could be spent -- / Dogs, horses, coaches, downy bedding -- / His very fasts were like a wedding. / A bosom friend, a look his table giving, / Inquired whence came such sumptuous living. / 'Whence should it come,' said he, superb of brow, / 'But from the fountain of my knowing how? / I owe it simply to my skill and care / In risking only where the marts will bear. ' / And now, so sweet his swelling profits were, / He risk'd anew his former gains: / Success rewarded not his pains -- / His own imprudence was the cause. / One ship, ill-freighted, went awreck; / Another felt of arms the lack, / When pirates, trampling on the laws, / O'ercame, and bore it off a prize. / A third, arriving at its port, / Had fail'd to sell its merchandize, -- / The style and folly of the court / Not now requiring such a sort. / His agents, factors, fail'd; -- in short, / The man himself, from pomp and princely cheer, / And palaces, and parks, and dogs, and deer, / Fell down to poverty most sad and drear. / His friend, now meeting him in shabby plight, / Exclaim'd, 'And whence comes this to pass? ' / 'From Fortune,' said the man, 'alas! ' / 'Console yourself,' replied the friendly wight: / 'For, if to make you rich the dame denies, / She can't forbid you to be wise.'
Similar titles
- The Dog That Carried His Masters Dinner by Jean De La Fontaine
- The Use Of Knowledge by Jean De La Fontaine
- The Old Woman And Her Two Servants by Jean De La Fontaine
- The Two Mules by Jean De La Fontaine
- The Rat And The Elephant by Jean De La Fontaine
- The Shepherd And The Sea by Jean De La Fontaine
Genres
- Fable — The work is a brief allegorical verse narrative in which a merchant's rise and fall illustrates a general moral about human ingratitude toward Fortune.
- Moral Tale — Its central purpose is ethical instruction: people claim personal credit for prosperity while blaming Fate for losses.
- Didactic Poetry — Written in verse, the poem explicitly teaches a lesson concerning pride, prudence, responsibility, and gratitude.
- Philosophical Poetry — It considers enduring philosophical questions about Fortune, agency, causation, self-deception, and the proper interpretation of success and misfortune.
Tags
French fable · verse narrative · seventeenth-century literature · maritime commerce · sea trading · merchant protagonist · wealth and poverty · Fortune personified · fate and chance · ingratitude · self-attribution · pride
What this Textopian page supports
The Ingratitude and Injustice of Men Towards Fortune 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, Moral Tale, Didactic Poetry, Philosophical Poetry, Satire
- Length: 672 words
- Structure: 1 section, 4 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for The Ingratitude and Injustice of Men Towards Fortune 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
- Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph
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