Social Commentaries

The Weasel in the Granary

by Jean de La Fontaine 1621–1695

Translated by Walter Thornbury (1886) · From Fables (1668–1694)

Social Commentaries

Once Madame Weasel, slender-waisted, thin,
Into a granary, by a narrow chink,
Crept, sick and hungry; quick she glided in,
To eat her fill, and she was wise, I think.
There at her ease,
No fear of fees,
She gnawed, and nibbled:--gracious, what a life!
The bacon melted in the strife.
Plump and rotund she grew,
As fat as two.
A week was over,
Spent in clover.
But one day, when she'd done--and that not badly--
A noise alarmed her sadly.
She tried the hole she'd entered, wishing to retreat;
'Twas no such easy feat.
Was she mistaken?--no, the selfsame door:
She tried it, o'er and o'er.
"Yes, yes," she said, "it is the place, I know;
I passed here but a week ago."
A Rat who saw her puzzled, slily spoke--
"Your pouch was emptier then, before your fast you broke.
Empty you came, and empty you must quit:
I tell you what I've told a dozen more.
But don't perplex the matter, I implore;
They differed from you in some ways, I do admit."

MLA

La Fontaine, Jean de. “The Weasel in the Granary.” Translated by Walter Thornbury. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/la-fontaine/67/.

Chicago

La Fontaine, Jean de. “The Weasel in the Granary.” Translated by Walter Thornbury. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/la-fontaine/67/.

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