The Vultures and the Pigeons

In “The Vultures and the Pigeons,” a violent war erupts among hawks and vultures over the carcass of a dog. The birds fight savagely, staining the ground with blood and leaving chiefs and heroes dead or wounded. Their struggle is so destructive that even Prometheus, suffering in chains, hopes it may soon end. The pigeons, a gentle people with tender hearts, feel compassion for the combatants and attempt to make peace. They appoint ambassadors who successfully calm the birds’ murderous fury, bringing about a truce. Yet the pigeons pay dearly for their intervention: once the hawks are no longer fighting one another, they turn upon their harmless mediators, hunting, killing, and eating them until towns and fields are desolate. The fable condemns the imprudence of trying to reconcile cruel enemies. For the safety of others, the wicked should be left to fight among themselves; those who seek peace with them should instead set them against one another.

By Jean de La Fontaine · First published 1678 · Genre: Fable, Didactic Literature, Allegory · 515 words

First lines

Mars once made havoc in the air: / Some cause aroused a quarrel there / Among the birds; -- not those that sing, / The courtiers of the merry Spring, / And by their talk, in leafy bowers, / Of loves they feel, enkindle ours; / Nor those which Cupid's mother yokes / To whirl on high her golden spokes; / But naughty hawk and vulture folks, / Of hooked beak and talons keen. / The carcass of a dog, 'tis said, / Had to this civil carnage led. / Blood rain'd upon the swarded green, / And valiant deeds were done, I ween. / But time and breath would surely fail / To give the fight in full detail; / Suffice to say, that chiefs were slain, / And heroes strow'd the sanguine plain, / Till old Prometheus, in his chains, / Began to hope an end of pains. / 'Twas sport to see the battle rage, / And valiant hawk with hawk engage; / 'Twas pitiful to see them fall, -- / Torn, bleeding, weltering, gasping, all. / Force, courage, cunning, all were plied; / Intrepid troops on either side / No effort spared to populate / The dusky realms of hungry Fate. / This woful strife awoke compassion / Within another feather'd nation, / Of iris neck and tender heart. / They tried their hand at mediation -- / To reconcile the foes, or part. / The pigeon people duly chose / Ambassadors, who work'd so well / As soon the murderous rage to quell, / And stanch the source of countless woes. / A truce took place, and peace ensued. / Alas! the people dearly paid / Who such pacification made! / Those cursed hawks at once pursued / The harmless pigeons, slew and ate, / Till towns and fields were desolate. / Small prudence had the friends of peace / To pacify such foes as these!

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Genres

• Fable — The work uses personified birds in a brief allegorical narrative that ends with an explicit moral lesson about the danger of making peace with violent aggressors.
• Didactic Literature — Its central purpose is instruction: the concluding maxim advises readers that destructive enemies should be allowed to fight one another rather than be protected by naïve peacemakers.
• Allegory — The conflict between raptors and pigeons functions as a symbolic representation of political violence, predatory powers, innocent mediators, and the perils of intervention.
• Animal Tale — Birds are the principal characters, with hawks, vultures, and pigeons assigned recognizable motives and social roles.

Tags

fable · French literature · seventeenth century · verse narrative · animal allegory · birds of prey · hawks · vultures · pigeons · war · civil conflict · carcass of a dog

What this Textopian page supports

The Vultures and the Pigeons 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, Allegory, Animal Tale, Satire
• Length: 515 words
• Structure: 1 section, 3 paragraphs
• Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)

Good citation fit

• Work identity for The Vultures and the Pigeons 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
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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