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With my caching partners, we tried to make the cache “containers” fun to find for the whole family. All of them are a few steps only from the trail so that they are easy for little ones to get to. You’ll be looking for a character or object from the fable featured in the cache description, so read the title carefully and have fun! Also, bring a pencil or a pen. Enjoy!
CONGRATS to the LITTLE BUMS (of Burder Bums) on FTF!
As a kid, my favorite stories were some of Jean de La Fontaine’s fables. This series presents some of his better-known stories, and some of the ones that fascinated me the most as a child.
La Fontaine was one of the most read French poets of the 17th century. The fables presented here were first published in 1668, and, for most, adapted from classical fabulists such as Aesop.
The moral to the story…
Even if the fables were not meant to be children’s stories when La Fontaine wrote them, they were seen as a great way to teach kids important lessons: to not be greedy or vain, to work hard, to not underestimate the importance of people or things, to think of the consequences of their actions, etc.
For me, they were just beautifully told.
I hope these caches make you discover – or rediscover – great stories to share with little ones!
The Crow and the Fox
(Jean de La Fontaine, book 1, fable 2 - translation by Norman R. Shapiro*)
Perched on a treetop, Master Crow
Was clutching in his bill a cheese,
When Master Fox, sniffing the gragrant breeze,
Came by and, more or less, addressed him so:
“Good day to you, Your Ravenhood!
How beautiful you are! How fine! How fair!
Ah! Truly, if your song could but compare
To all the rest, I’m sure you should
Be dubbed the rara avis of the wood!”
The crow, beside himself with joy and pride,
Begins to caw. He opens wide
His gawking beak; lets go the cheese; it
Falls to the ground. The fox is there to seize it,
Saying: “You see? Be edified:
Flatterers thrive on fools’ credulity.
The lesson’s worth a cheese, don’t you agree?”
The crow, shamefaced and flustered, swore
Too late, however : “Nevermore!”
*Jean de La Fontaine. The Complete Fables of Jean de La Fontaine (translation by Norman R. Shapiro). Urbana : University of Illinois Press. 2007.
Le corbeau et le renard
(Jean de La Fontaine, livre 1, fable 2)
Maître Corbeau, sur un arbre perché,
Tenait en son bec un fromage.
Maître Renard, par l'odeur alléché,
Lui tint à peu près ce langage :
"Hé ! bonjour, Monsieur du Corbeau.
Que vous êtes joli ! que vous me semblez beau !
Sans mentir, si votre ramage
Se rapporte à votre plumage,
Vous êtes le Phénix des hôtes de ces bois."
A ces mots le Corbeau ne se sent pas de joie ;
Et pour montrer sa belle voix,
Il ouvre un large bec, laisse tomber sa proie.
Le Renard s'en saisit, et dit : "Mon bon Monsieur,
Apprenez que tout flatteur
Vit aux dépens de celui qui l'écoute :
Cette leçon vaut bien un fromage, sans doute. "
Le Corbeau, honteux et confus,
Jura, mais un peu tard, qu'on ne l'y prendrait plus.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ze. Pebj vf crepurq va n prqne gerr. Ab arrq gb gnxr uvz qbja; ur vf pneelvat n anab nebhaq uvf sbbg!