Title:  The Tales and Novels, v12:  Monks of Catalonia & The Cradle

Author:  Jean de La Fontaine

Release Date:  March, 2004 [EBook #5286] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on June 21, 2002]

Edition:  10

Language:  English

Character set encoding:  ASCII

*** Start of the project gutenberg Ebook tales and novels of Fontaine, V12 ***

This eBook was produced by David Widger widger@cecomet.net

The tales and novels
of
J. De La Fontaine

Volume 12.

Contains: 
The Monks of Catalonia
The Cradle

The monks of Catalonia

To you, my friends, allow me to detail,
The feats of monks in Catalonia’s vale,
Where oft the holy fathers pow’rs displayed,
And showed such charity to wife and maid,
That o’er their minds sweet fascination reigned,
And made them think, they Paradise had gained.

          Suchcharacters oft preciously advise,
          And youthful easy female minds surprise,
          The beauteous fair encircle with their net,
          And, of the feeling heart, possession get: 
          Work in the holy vineyard, you may guess,
          And, as our tale will show, with full success.

          Intimes of old, when learning ’mong the fair,
          Enough to read the testament, was rare,
          (Times howsoe’er thought difficult to quote,)
          A swarm of monks of gormandizing note,
          Arrived and fixed themselves within a town,
          For young and beauteous belles of great renown,
          While, of gallants, there seemed but very few,
          Though num’rous aged husbands you might view.

          A Noble chapel soon the fathers raised,
          To which the females ran and highly praised,
          Surveyed it o’er and confidently thought,
          ’Twas there, of course, salvation should be sought. 
          And when their faith had thoroughly been proved,
          To gain their point the monks the veil removed.—­
          Good father Andrew scorned to use finesse,
          And in discourse the sex would thus address.

          Ifany thing prevent your sov’reign bliss,
          And Paradise incautiously you miss,
          Most certainly the evil will arise,
          From keeping for your husbands large supplies,
          Of what a surplus you have clearly got,
          And more than requisite to them allot,
          Without bestowing on your trusty friends,
          The saving that to no one blessings lends.