Explore "The Ass and the Dog" by Jean de La Fontaine on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
Dame Nature, our respected mother, / Ordains that we should aid each other.
The ass this ordinance neglected, / Though not a creature ill-affected. / Along the road a dog and he / One master follow'd silently. / Their master slept: meanwhile, the ass / Applied his nippers to the grass, / Much pleased in such a place to stop, / Though there no thistle he could crop. / He would not be too delicate, / Nor spoil a dinner for a plate, / Which, but for that, his favourite dish, / Were all that any ass could wish.