The Oracle and the Atheist

A pagan, doubtful and insincere in his faith, consults Apollo while concealing a sparrow that he is prepared either to kill or release. He asks whether the bird is alive or dead, intending to make the god’s answer false whichever choice he makes. Apollo sees through the deception and tells him to show the sparrow instead of setting a trap that will harm only himself. The fable declares that no thought, feeling, or action can be concealed from the Maker.

By Jean de La Fontaine · First published 1668 · Genre: Fable, Moral Tale, Religious Poetry · 245 words

First lines

That man his Maker can deceive, / Is monstrous folly to believe. / The labyrinthine mazes of the heart / Are open to His eyes in every part. / Whatever one may do, or think, or feel, / From Him no darkness can the thing conceal. / A pagan once, of graceless heart and hollow, / Whose faith in gods, I'm apprehensive, / Was quite as real as expensive. / Consulted, at his shrine, the god Apollo. / 'Is what I hold alive, or not? ' / Said he, -- a sparrow having brought, / Prepared to wring its neck, or let it fly, / As need might be, to give the god the lie. / Apollo saw the trick, / And answer'd quick, / 'Dead or alive, show me your sparrow, / And cease to set for me a trap / Which can but cause yourself mishap. / I see afar, and far I shoot my arrow. '[1]

• Open reader

Similar titles

• Death And The Unfortunate by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Miser Who Had Lost His Treasure by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Old Man And His Sons by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Astrologer Who Stumbled Into A Well by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Wallet by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Ass Loaded With Sponges And The Ass Loaded With Salt by Jean De La Fontaine

Genres

• Fable — A brief narrative built around a deceptive test of Apollo concludes with an explicit moral about the impossibility of concealing thoughts or actions from a divine being.
• Moral Tale — Its primary purpose is didactic: it warns against foolishly attempting to deceive one's maker or a god presumed to possess complete knowledge.
• Religious Poetry — The opening frames the lesson in theological terms, asserting divine omniscience and the exposure of the human heart before God.
• Philosophical Poetry — The poem addresses questions of belief, divine knowledge, human skepticism, and the limits of cunning through a compact allegorical episode.

Tags

French fable · verse narrative · seventeenth-century literature · classical antiquity · paganism · Apollo · oracle consultation · Aesopic tradition · religious hypocrisy · doubt and unbelief · divine omniscience · God as Maker

What this Textopian page supports

The Oracle and the Atheist 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, Moral Tale, Religious Poetry, Philosophical Poetry, Satire
• Length: 245 words
• Structure: 1 section, 2 paragraphs
• Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)

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• Work identity for The Oracle and the Atheist 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