Fables for the Frivolous

He was born in New York City, the first-born of author Charles Edward Carryl and Mary R. Wetmore.

One of the earliest works by the American parodist, Guy Wetmore Carryl, these fables are adapted from Jean de La Fontaine’s original writings. The fables are written in verse, and are light-hearted re-tellings of fables from two centuries before, each ending with a moral and a pun.

Among the more celebrated of the fables are The Persevering Tortoise and the Pretentious Hare, The Arrogant Frog and the Superior Bull, and The Sycophantic Fox and the Gullible Raven.

01: The Arrogant Fox and the Unapproachable Grapes
02: The Persevering Tortoise and the Pretentious Hare
03: The Patrician Peacocks and the Overweening Jay
04: The Arrogant Frog and the Superior Bull
05: The Domineering Eagle and the Inventive Bratling
06: The Iconoclastic Rustic and the Apropos Acorn
07: The Unusual Goose and the Imbecilic Woodcutter
08: The Rude Rat and the Unostentatious Oyster
09: The Urban Rat and the Suburban Rat
10: The Impecunious Grasshopper and the Frugal Ant
11: The Pampered Lapdog and the Misguided Ass
12: The Vainglorious Oak and the Modest Bullrush
13: The Inhuman Wolf and the Lamb Sans Gene
14: The Sycophantic Fox and the Gullible Raven
15: The Microscopic Trout and the Machiavellian Fisherman
16: The Confiding Peasant and the Maladroit Bear
17: The Precipitate Cock and the Unappreciated Pearl
18: The Abbreviated Fox and His Sceptical Comrades
19: The Hospitable Caledonian and the Thankless Viper
20: The Impetuous Breeze and the Diplomatic Sun