Full Description
Though they were first written over 300 years ago, this is the first complete English translation of Jean de La Fontaine's comedic classic Contes et nouvelles en vers. Both sexually charged and wickedly funny, La Fontaine's Tales will surprise readers who know him only from his work on fables for children. Though the writing is more suggestive than vulgar, it still has the power to shock readers unprepared for the darkness that inhabits these poems. Included are nearly seventy illustrations dating from the 18th and 19th centuries, many of them rare, as well as extensive commentary by the editor.
Contents
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
BOOK
1. "Jocondo"
2. "Richard Minutolo"
3. "The Cuckold, Cudgeled but Content"
4. "The Husband Who Heard Confession"
5. "The Cobbler and His Wife"
6. "Bosom Buddies"
7. "The Glutton"
8. "A Model Nun"
9. "Provincial Justice"
10. "The Peasant Who Angered His Lord"
11. "In the Court of Love"
12. "Vulcan's Revenge"
13. "The Ballad of the Books"
BOOK
1. "The Ear-Maker"
2. "The Catalonian Friars"
3. "The Cradle"
4. "The Muleteer"
5. "The Saint Julian Prayer"
6. "The Servant Girl Found Guiltless"
7. "The Three Wives' Wager"
8. "How Old Men Count the Days"
9. "A Money-Minded Woman Meets Her Match"
10. "You Can't Think of Everything"
11. "The Bumpkin in Search of His Calf "
12. "Hans Carvel's Ring"
13. "The Boasting Braggart Punished"
14. "The Runaway Bride"
15. "The Hermit Monk"
16. "Mazet of Lamporechio"
BOOK THREE
1. "Brother Philip's Geese"
2. "The Mandrake"
3. "An Evening in Reims"
4. "The Enchanted Cup"
5. "The Falcon"
6. "The Courtesan Who Fell in Love"
7. "Nicaise"
8. "The Saddle"
9. "The Kiss in Exchange"
10. "Time to Confess"
11. "Portrait of Iris"
12. "Cupid the Intruder"
13. "The Quarrel between a Beauty's Mouth and Eyes"
14. "The Wonder Dog"
15. "Clymene"
BOOK FOUR
1. "How Girls Get Smart"
2. "The Mother Superior"
3. "The Wife Swappers"
4. "A Clear Conscience"
5. "The Devil of Popefingerdom"
6. "Ferondo in Purgatory"
7. "The Psalter"
8. "King Candaules and the Professor of Law"
9. "Putting the Devil in Hell"
10. "The Farmer and His Mare"
11. "Eel Pâté"
12. "The Eyeglasses"
13. "Convincing Kate"
14. "The Tub"
15. "Mission Impossible"
16. "The Magnificent One"
17. "The Painting"
THE UNCOLLECTED TALES
1. "The Ephesian Matron"
2. "Belphegor"
3. "The Little Bell"
4. "The River Scamander"
5. "The Unwitting Go-Between"
6. "The Remedy"
7. "Indiscreet Confessions"
8. "Mixed Up in the Dark"
9. "A Rearward Glance"
Notes on the Tales
Bibliography
Index
