The Little Fish and the Fisher

Name: The Little Fish and the Fisher
Author: Jean de La Fontaine

A fisher catches a tiny troutling and decides to keep it as the beginning of his meal. The little fish begs for mercy, arguing that it is too small to be worth eating and that, if allowed to grow into a trout, it could later be caught and sold dearly to an alderman. The fisher rejects this promise of greater future value, saying that the fish’s fate is the frying-pan because he cooks whatever fry he has caught. The fable concludes that sensible men sometimes prefer what they possess now to uncertain future gain.

By Jean de La Fontaine · First published 1668 · Genre: Fable, Didactic Literature, Moral Verse · 337 words

First lines

A little fish will grow, / If life be spared, a great; / But yet to let him go, / And for his growing wait, / May not be very wise, / As 'tis not sure your bait / Will catch him when of size. / Upon a river bank, a fisher took / A tiny troutling from his hook. / Said he, ''Twill serve to count, at least, / As the beginning of my feast; / And so I'll put it with the rest. ' / This little fish, thus caught, / His clemency besought. / 'What will your honour do with me? / I'm not a mouthful, as you see. / Pray let me grow to be a trout, / And then come here and fish me out. / Some alderman, who likes things nice, / Will buy me then at any price. / But now, a hundred such you'll have to fish, / To make a single good-for-nothing dish. ' / 'Well, well, be it so,' replied the fisher, / 'My little fish, who play the preacher, / The frying-pan must be your lot, / Although, no doubt, you like it not: / I fry the fry that can be got.'

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Similar titles

Genres

Fable — The poem is a brief animal-centered moral tale in which a fish speaks and the fisher's decision illustrates a practical lesson about valuing a certain present gain over an uncertain future one.
Didactic Literature — Its central purpose is instruction: the concluding maxim explicitly states the lesson that sensible people may prefer what is available now to what might come later.
Moral Verse — Written in rhymed verse, the work uses a simple narrative to convey an ethical and practical moral concerning prudence, certainty, and self-interest.
Animal Tale — A troutling is personified, pleading with the fisher and proposing a future bargain, while its animal situation carries the human meaning of the story.

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The Little Fish and the Fisher 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, Moral Verse, Animal Tale, Allegory
Length: 337 words
Structure: 1 section, 3 paragraphs
Reading fit: Very Easy (5th Grade or below)

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