Fortune and the Little Child
"Fortune and the Little Child" is a collection of poetic stories by Jean de La Fontaine. The stories commonly feature animals as characters who learn life lessons about morality, luck, wisdom, and human nature. These tales teach about the unpredictability of life's circumstances, emphasizing the role of fortune in shaping our destinies. La Fontaine uses enchanting poetic language and vivid characters to weave tales that amuse, educate, and provoke thought, making the book an engaging read for both children and adults.
Beside a well profoundly deep A Schoolboy laid him down to sleep. Ere care has racked with aches the head, The hardest bank 's a feather bed; A grown-up man, in such a case, Had leaped a furlong from the place. Happy for him, just then came by Fortune, and saw him heedless lie. She woke him softly, speaking mild: "I've saved your life, you see, my child. Another time you close your eyes, Be just a little bit more wise. If you had fallen down below, 'Twould have been laid to me, I know, Though your own fault; and now, I pray, Before I take myself away, In honest truth you'll own the same, For I was hardly here to blame. It was not my caprice or joke." The goddess vanished as she spoke. And she was right; for never yet Have any a misfortune met, But Fortune's blamed: she has to pay For our misdoings every day. For all mad, foolish, ill-planned schemes We try to justify our dreams By rating her with curses strong. In one word, Fortune's always wrong.
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"Fortune and the Little Child Books." Literature.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 5 Jan. 2025. <https://www.literature.com/book/fortune_and_the_little_child_2550>.
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