Le Loup et le Chien

The Wolf and the Dog

1Le collier du chienThe dog's collarFree3m

A wolf is nothing but skin and bone, so well do the dogs keep guard. He meets a mastiff, strong, handsome, fat and sleek, who has strayed. He would gladly attack him, but the dog could defend himself, so the wolf greets him humbly and admires how fat he is. The dog says he can be as fat if he leaves the woods, where wolves die of hunger with nothing sure: he must only chase beggars and people with sticks, flatter the household and please the master, and he will get chicken bones, pigeon bones and many pats. The wolf already weeps for joy. On the way he sees the dog's neck rubbed bare: it is the collar he is tied with. Tied! Then he cannot run where he likes? Not always, but what does it matter? It matters so much that the wolf wants none of his meals, not even for a treasure. He runs off, and he is running still.

Retold from Fables de La Fontaine (Bernardin-Béchet, Paris 1874), Livre premier, V: Le Loup et le Chien by Jean de La Fontaine (public domain).