The Sun and the Frogs (Book VI)

Aesop refuses to join the people’s drunken celebration of their tyrant’s wedding and instead exposes the foolishness of their joy through a fable. When the sun decides to take a wife, the frogs lament, fearing that his children will multiply the heat already unbearable from one sun. They imagine that several suns would dry up the sea, destroy their marshes and fens, and force their race either to perish or to dwell in the Styx. The frogs’ alarm shows that a powerful ruler’s marriage may threaten those subject to him rather than benefit them.

By Jean de La Fontaine · First published 1668 · Genre: Fable, Didactic Literature, Political Satire · 251 words

First lines

Rejoicing on their tyrant's wedding-day, / The people drown'd their care in drink; / While from the general joy did Aesop shrink, / And show'd its folly in this way. / 'The sun,' said he, 'once took it in his head / To have a partner for his bed. / From swamps, and ponds, and marshy bogs, / Up rose the wailings of the frogs. / "What shall we do, should he have progeny? " / Said they to Destiny; / "One sun we scarcely can endure, / And half-a-dozen, we are sure, / Will dry the very sea. / Adieu to marsh and fen! / Our race will perish then, / Or be obliged to fix / Their dwelling in the Styx! " / For such an humble animal, / The frog, I take it, reason'd well. '[1]

• Open reader

Similar titles

• The Frogs Asking A King by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Thieves And The Ass by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Animals Sending Tribute To Alexander by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Sick Lion And The Fox by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Fox And The Grapes by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Eagle And The Beetle by Jean De La Fontaine

Genres

• Fable — A short allegorical narrative featuring talking frogs and a personified sun, ending with a pointed lesson about the consequences of unchecked power.
• Didactic Literature — The poem explicitly instructs readers through Aesop's cautionary example, criticizing public celebration of a tyrant's marriage.
• Political Satire — The tyrant's wedding and the frogs' fear of multiple suns satirize rulers whose expanding power threatens their subjects.
• Allegory — The sun represents a powerful ruler, while the frogs represent vulnerable subjects who recognize the danger of that ruler producing successors.

Tags

French fable · verse narrative · seventeenth-century literature · Aesopic tradition · political allegory · tyranny · despotic rulers · subjects and power · royal marriage · public celebration · drunken rejoicing · Aesop

What this Textopian page supports

The Sun and the Frogs (Book VI) 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, Political Satire, Allegory, Animal Tale
• Length: 251 words
• Structure: 1 section, 2 paragraphs
• Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)

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• Work identity for The Sun and the Frogs (Book VI) 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