The Wolf and the Stork by Jean de La Fontaine

A wolf, having greedily gorged himself on lamb and mutton at a feast, gets a bone lodged deep in his throat and is nearly dead. Unable to speak, he signals to a passing stork for help. The stork uses her beak to draw out the bone with ease and then modestly asks for payment for her skilful service. The wolf angrily refuses, claiming that the stork should consider herself sufficiently rewarded because she safely withdrew her neck from his jaws.

By Jean de La Fontaine · First published 1668 · Genre: Fable, Moral Literature, Animal Fiction · 204 words

First lines

The wolves are prone to play the glutton. / One, at a certain feast, 'tis said, / So stuff'd himself with lamb and mutton, / He seem'd but little short of dead. / Deep in his throat a bone stuck fast. / Well for this wolf, who could not speak, / That soon a stork quite near him pass'd. / By signs invited, with her beak / The bone she drew / With slight ado, / And for this skilful surgery / Demanded, modestly, her fee. / 'Your fee! ' replied the wolf, / In accents rather gruff; / 'And is it not enough / Your neck is safe from such a gulf? / Go, for a wretch ingrate, / Nor tempt again your fate! '[1]

[1]: Phaedrus, I. 8; and Aesop.

• Open reader

Similar titles

• The Wolf The Mother And Her Child by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Bitch And Her Friend by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Wolf Accusing The Fox Before The Monkey by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Bat And The Two Weasels by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Ass And The Little Dog by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Weasel In The Granary by Jean De La Fontaine

Genres

• Fable — A brief animal tale that delivers a clear moral lesson about trusting selfish and powerful figures.
• Moral Literature — The wolf's refusal to reward the stork teaches that help given to the ungrateful may receive no fair recompense.
• Animal Fiction — Anthropomorphic animals speak, bargain, act from recognizable motives, and represent human types.
• Didactic Literature — The narrative is designed to instruct readers through an economical illustrative example rather than through complex plot development.

Tags

French fable · verse narrative · animal fable · seventeenth-century literature · moral tale · wolf · stork · feast · gluttony · lamb and mutton · bone in the throat · animal surgery

What this Textopian page supports

The Wolf and the Stork 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 Literature, Animal Fiction, Didactic Literature, Allegory
• Length: 204 words
• Structure: 1 section, 2 paragraphs
• Reading fit: Very Easy (5th Grade or below)

Good citation fit

• Work identity for The Wolf and the Stork 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