Tales and Novels of J. de La Fontaine — Volume 18

"Tales and Novels of J. de La Fontaine — Volume 18" by Jean de La Fontaine is a collection of stories authored in the 17th century, a time marked by the flourishing of literary and artistic expression in France. This volume includes several fables and tales that explore themes of morality, human behavior, and social commentary through allegorical narratives. The likely topics touch on love, jealousy, and the folly of human actions, reflecting La Fontaine's keen observations of societal norms and personal relationships. In this volume, La Fontaine presents three distinct tales: "The Case of Conscience," "The Devil of Pope-fig Island," and "Feronde." In "The Case of Conscience," the story revolves around Anne, who grapples with her feelings of love and guilt while interacting with a young man named William, leading to humorous moral lessons about innocence and confession. "The Devil of Pope-fig Island" offers a comedic portrayal of the foolishness of the island’s inhabitants, who are punished for their lack of common sense, while a clever laborer outsmarts a class-conscious devil in a series of clever exchanges. Lastly, "Feronde" follows a comical narrative about marital jealousy and misunderstandings, as a husband, suspecting his wife of infidelity, faces both supernatural punishment and unexpected consequences that ultimately teach him valuable lessons about trust and compassion. Each tale cleverly engages with moral themes while entertaining the reader with wit and wisdom. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Jean de La Fontaine was a French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his Fables, which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Europe and numerous alternative versions in France, as well as in French regional languages.