The Wolf and the Lamb by Jean de La Fontaine

Name: The Wolf and the Lamb
Author: Jean de La Fontaine

Jean de La Fontaine’s fable shows that innocence cannot protect the weak when the powerful choose injustice. A lamb drinks from a mountain stream when a hungry wolf sees her and angrily accuses her of muddying his water. The lamb calmly explains that she is lower down the stream and therefore cannot disturb the wolf’s drink. The wolf then claims that the lamb insulted him a year earlier. She answers that she is not yet a year old. He blames her brother, but she says she has none. Refusing every reasonable defence, the wolf declares that someone of her kind—sheep, men, or dogs—has damaged his reputation. He then carries the lamb into the wood, judges her without a jury, kills her, and eats her.

By Jean de La Fontaine · First published 1668 · Genre: Fable, Moral Tale, Allegory · 420 words

First lines

That innocence is not a shield, / A story teaches, not the longest. / The strongest reasons always yield / To reasons of the strongest.

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The Wolf and the Lamb 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, Moral Tale, Allegory, Didactic Literature, Narrative Poetry
Length: 420 words
Structure: 1 section, 3 paragraphs
Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)

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Similar titles

Genres

Fable — A brief animal tale that delivers an explicit moral lesson: power and force override innocence and reason.
Moral Tale — The narrative condemns injustice, exposing how the powerful invent accusations to justify harming the weak.
Allegory — The wolf and lamb represent oppressive power and vulnerable innocence, extending the story beyond literal animal behavior.
Didactic Literature — Its principal purpose is instructional, teaching readers about tyranny, bad-faith argument, and the limits of rational defense against violence.