The Lioness and the Bear by Jean de La Fontaine

Name: The Lioness and the Bear
Author: Jean de La Fontaine

The lioness mourns violently after a hunter steals her young, filling the forests and mountains with cries so loud that no animal can sleep. A bear asks why she cannot be quiet, reminding her that she has devoured many young creatures whose mothers and fathers also suffered. The lioness replies that her own grief is unbearable because she has lost her only son, and she blames Destiny for her misery. The fable observes that people have voiced such complaints ever since the mortal fall. It urges those who believe their suffering is the greatest to consider someone like the widowed and childless Hecuba, reduced to slavery, and to recognize the grace still present in their own condition.

By Jean de La Fontaine · First published 1678 · Genre: Fable, Didactic Literature, Moral Allegory · 386 words

First lines

The lioness had lost her young; / A hunter stole it from the vale; / The forests and the mountains rung / Responsive to her hideous wail. / Nor night, nor charms of sweet repose, / Could still the loud lament that rose / From that grim forest queen. / No animal, as you might think, / With such a noise could sleep a wink. / A bear presumed to intervene. / 'One word, sweet friend,' quoth she, / 'And that is all, from me. / The young that through your teeth have pass'd, / In file unbroken by a fast, / Had they nor dam nor sire? ' / 'They had them both. ' 'Then I desire, / Since all their deaths caused no such grievous riot, / While mothers died of grief beneath your fiat, / To know why you yourself cannot be quiet? ' / 'I quiet! -- I! -- a wretch bereaved! / My only son! -- such anguish be relieved! / No, never! All for me below / Is but a life of tears and woe! ' -- / 'But say, why doom yourself to sorrow so? ' -- / 'Alas! 'tis Destiny that is my foe.'

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Similar titles

Genres

Fable — The poem uses speaking animals in a brief narrative to deliver an explicit moral lesson about grief, self-pity, and comparing one's suffering with that of others.
Didactic Literature — Its primary purpose is instruction: the closing address directly advises readers to moderate their complaints by considering greater misfortunes.
Moral Allegory — The lioness and bear function as symbolic figures whose exchange represents human hypocrisy, selective sympathy, and the universal tendency to regard personal suffering as exceptional.
Animal Tale — The narrative centers on anthropomorphized animals, particularly a grieving lioness and a reasoning bear, acting and speaking in recognizably human ways.

What this Textopian page supports

The Lioness and the Bear 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, Didactic Literature, Moral Allegory, Animal Tale, Verse Narrative
Length: 386 words
Structure: 1 section, 2 paragraphs
Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)

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