The Ploughman and his Sons

A wealthy ploughman, nearing death, gathers his sons and urges them to preserve their inherited fields. He tells them that a treasure lies hidden somewhere in the land, though he cannot say exactly where, and instructs them after the harvest to search every part of the soil with plough, spade, and rake. After their father dies, the sons thoroughly turn over the fields in search of money. They find no hidden coins, but their careful labour makes the land yield more grain than ever before. The father’s supposed treasure proves to be the wealth created by industry itself.

By Jean de La Fontaine · First published 1668 · Genre: Fable, Didactic Literature, Moral Tale · 246 words

First lines

The farmer's patient care and toil / Are oftener wanting than the soil.

• Open reader

Similar titles

• The Lark And Her Young Ones With The Owner Of A Field by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Dog That Dropped The Substance For The Shadow by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Man And The Wooden God by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Hare And The Frogs by Jean De La Fontaine
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Genres

• Fable — The work is a brief didactic animal-free fable in the Aesopic tradition, using a simple narrative to deliver the explicit moral that labor itself is wealth.
• Didactic Literature — Its central purpose is instruction: the father teaches his sons the value of industry, perseverance, and careful cultivation.
• Moral Tale — The plot culminates in a clear ethical lesson, showing that honest work produces greater rewards than the pursuit of hidden riches.
• Allegory — The buried treasure functions allegorically as productive labor, while the digging represents the sustained effort needed to obtain prosperity.

Tags

fable · verse narrative · didactic poetry · rural France · agricultural life · farming · ploughman · sons · father-son relationship · inheritance · family land · deathbed advice

What this Textopian page supports

The Ploughman and his Sons 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, Didactic Literature, Moral Tale, Allegory, Narrative Poetry
• Length: 246 words
• Structure: 1 section, 3 paragraphs
• Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)

Good citation fit

• Work identity for The Ploughman and his Sons 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