The Complete Tales in Verse

The Tales of Verse brought La Fontaine censure, yet they were an underground success. Guido Waldman's English translation, the first since the 19th century, shows why La Fontaine deserves a place among France's comic geniuses.

Generations of children have been brought up on La Fontaine's Fables . Only an absent-minded or perversely liberal parent, however, would leave the same author's Complete Tales in Verse lying around for the children to find. La Fontaine's Complete Tales in Verse are the fruit of his wicked delight in Boccaccio, Ariosto, Rabelais, and other writers. Retelling their stories in his own words, La Fontaine comments wryly as he goes along, making the resulting tales very much his own. Marital misdemeanors, resourceful females, and foolish husbands are the stuff of La Fontaine's saucy variations on the human comedy. The Tales of Verse brought La Fontaine censure, yet they were an underground success. Guido Waldman's English translation, the first since the nineteenth century, demonstrates why La Fontaine deserves a place among France's comic geniuses.