The poem 'The Raven and the Fox'

Open your book, Poorvi, at page 13 and read the poem 'The Raven and the Fox'. It goes on to page 14. It was written by Jean de La Fontaine, a French poet who was a fabulist: someone who writes fables. Read it aloud, or ask someone to read it with you.

A raven is a bird like a crow, only bigger, and like a crow it croaks; it does not sing. In stories each animal often has a fixed character: the lion is brave, the bear is lazy, and the fox is cunning, always ready with a trick.

Here is what the poem tells, in short. Mr Raven is sitting up on the branch of a tree. In his big beak he holds a piece of food, the kind of tasty bit that a fox would travel far to find. Below him, Reynard the Fox looks up and sees the food.

The Fox begins to praise the Raven. He calls him 'Sir Raven' and says what a handsome bird he is, with such fine feathers. Then he says that if only the Raven would sing, all the birds of the woods would call him their King.

This is flattery: praise you do not really mean, said to get something. In everyday Hindi we call it buttering up. Think of someone who praises your old watch only because they want a favour from you.

The Raven does not see that the Fox is playing a trick on him. Full of foolish pride, he forgets that his voice is just a croak. He opens his beak to sing, and down falls the food! The Fox takes it.

The Fox laughs and gives the Raven a lesson: do not listen to sweet words of praise that make you feel proud, because pride is unwise. In the poem the Fox is clever and the Raven is foolish. For us, the lesson is to tell real praise from flattery.