The King, the Kite, and the Falconer

The speaker praises a prince whose grace and restraint surpass revenge, then turns to the story of a kite. In one version, a huntsman captures the rare bird and presents it to his sovereign. The kite immediately settles on the king’s nose and refuses to leave despite the efforts of courtiers, pages, and its master. The king remains silent and composed. When the bird finally departs, he orders both kite and captor dismissed from service, yet remits all punishment. The court admires a mercy that few rulers would show, since the fowler and the bird knew no danger in approaching royalty. The tale is also associated with a place beside the Ganges where people will not kill animals, believing that creatures may once have been human heroes and may change forms again. In another version, a falconer brings a kite to court, hoping the exceptional prize will bring him fortune. Before he can offer it to the sovereign, the bird perches on the falconer’s nose with its sharp talons. The man cries out, while the monarch, courtiers, and pages burst into laughter. The speaker argues that even great rulers may laugh, and concludes that foolish falconers are more common than indulgent kings.

By Jean de La Fontaine · First published 1678 · Genre: Fable, Verse Fable, Didactic Literature · 1,683 words

First lines

To His August Highness, Monseigneur The Prince De Conti.[1]

[1]: _Prince de Conti_. -- This was Francis-Louis, Prince de la Roche-sur-Yon and de Conti, another of La Fontaine's great friends at court. He was born in Paris, 1664, and died in 1709.

• Open reader

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Genres

• Fable — The work is a brief moral tale involving a kite, a king, and a falconer, using an improbable incident to reflect on judgment, mercy, and human folly.
• Verse Fable — La Fontaine presents the narrative in rhymed verse, combining poetic meter, narration, commentary, and a concluding moral observation.
• Didactic Literature — Its explicit concern is the moral meaning of the episode, contrasting the rare indulgence of a king with the more common foolishness of those around him.
• Animal Tale — A kite is the central disruptive figure, and its behavior drives the plot in the tradition of literary animal narratives.

Tags

French fable · verse narrative · seventeenth-century France · royal court · monarchy · princely dedication · mercy · clemency · restraint · revenge · justice · courtly satire

What this Textopian page supports

The King, the Kite, and the Falconer 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, Verse Fable, Didactic Literature, Animal Tale, Satire
• Length: 1,683 words
• Structure: 1 section, 6 paragraphs
• Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)

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• Work identity for The King, the Kite, and the Falconer 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