“Lui tient a peu pres ce langage” (Spoke to him after this fashion).—­“Ce langage.”  So foxes talk, do they!  They talk like crows!  Mind what you are about, oh, wise tutor; weigh your answer before you give it, it is more important than you suspect.

“Eh!  Bonjour, Monsieur le Corbeau!” ("Good-day, Mr. Crow!")—­Mr.!  The child sees this title laughed to scorn before he knows it is a title of honour.  Those who say “Monsieur du Corbeau” will find their work cut out for them to explain that “du.”

“Que vous etes joli!  Que vous me semblez beau!” ("How handsome you are, how beautiful in my eyes!")—­Mere padding.  The child, finding the same thing repeated twice over in different words, is learning to speak carelessly.  If you say this redundance is a device of the author, a part of the fox’s scheme to make his praise seem all the greater by his flow of words, that is a valid excuse for me, but not for my pupil.

“Sans mentir, si votre ramage” ("Without lying, if your song").—­“Without lying.”  So people do tell lies sometimes.  What will the child think of you if you tell him the fox only says “Sans mentir” because he is lying?

“Se rapporte a votre plumage” ("Answered to your fine feathers").—­“Answered!” What does that mean?  Try to make the child compare qualities so different as those of song and plumage; you will see how much he understands.

“Vous seriez le phenix des hotes de ces bois!” ("You would be the phoenix of all the inhabitants of this wood!")—­The phoenix!  What is a phoenix?  All of a sudden we are floundering in the lies of antiquity—­we are on the edge of mythology.

“The inhabitants of this wood.”  What figurative language!  The flatterer adopts the grand style to add dignity to his speech, to make it more attractive.  Will the child understand this cunning?  Does he know, how could he possibly know, what is meant by grand style and simple style?

“A ces mots le corbeau ne se sent pas de joie” (At these words, the crow is beside himself with delight).—­To realise the full force of this proverbial expression we must have experienced very strong feeling.

“Et, pour montrer sa belle voix” (And, to show his fine voice).—­Remember that the child, to understand this line and the whole fable, must know what is meant by the crow’s fine voice.

“Il ouvre un large bec, laisse tomber sa proie” (He opens his wide beak and drops his prey).—­This is a splendid line; its very sound suggests a picture.  I see the great big ugly gaping beak, I hear the cheese crashing through the branches; but this kind of beauty is thrown away upon children.

“Le renard s’en saisit, et dit, ‘Mon bon monsieur’” (The fox catches it, and says, “My dear sir").—­So kindness is already folly.  You certainly waste no time in teaching your children.

“Apprenez que tout flatteur” ("You must learn that every flatterer").—­A general maxim.  The child can make neither head nor tail of it.