Biography of the fabulist Lafontaine

After all, sick, he repented of a frivolous and frivolous life, and after death on his body, traces of the flaw, which he wore for more than one year .... Jean de Lafontaine was born in a rich and noble family in the town of Chateau Tierry. His father Charles was the manager of royal hunting and the main forestry of the duchy. At first, Jean studied theology and was preparing for a spiritual rank, then studied the right, but soon decided that philosophy and poetry occupy him much more.

Noble friends helped him advance in the literary field, and above all, the Minister of Finance of Louis XIV Nicolas Fuke. When the latter fell into disgrace, Lafontaine not only did not renounce him, but tried to configure public opinion in favor of Fouquet, publishing Elegy to Nymphs in ", and then the" ode to the king "addressed to Louis XIV. Some biographers believe that this he set up the monarch against himself.

The king subsequently frankly did not like the poet, whom he considered frivolous and neglecting any responsibilities. Lafontaine entered large literature at the summer of the year. He began to write literary works of various genres: ballads, plays, Odes, Madrigaly, Epistles, Eklogs. From the year, the fame of the "fairy tale" began to come out. Their Lafontaine scooped up the plots from the short stories of Bokkaccio and the collection “One hundred new short stories” in the book, which many considered outrageous, tells about the tricks of incorrect wives and the religious hypocrisy of medieval monks.

Of all the tales, the most frivolous nature was “new fairy tales”, which provoked numerous reproaches of obscenity and immediately were banned. The tribute to the gallant literature was the prosaic work of Lafontaine - the help of “Love of Psyche and Cupid”, which is the processing of the fourth and fifth books of Roman Apuley “Golden Donkey”. The plot well -known to the then reader, Lafontaine set out in an exquisite form resembling an opera setting.

The book made a great impression on the Russian writer Hippolytus Bogdanovich, who created his poem “Darling” on the basis of the same plot. In the XVII century, Laponfontin was already very popular, however, his fame was with a note of scandalousness due to the political and religious volunteer of the writer. But real glory came to him when he began to write his fables. In the year, the first six books of fables appeared, under the modest title of "Aesop's fables, shifted to verses by Mr.

de Lafontaine." These names have been familiar to the Russian reader since childhood, since the mentioned fables were shifted into Russian and copyrights were processed by Ivan Krylov. The second edition of Lafontaine fables, published in the year, included 11 books. Later it was supplemented by the part of the year. New poetic forms blew up the consciousness of contemporaries.

The language of Lafontaine fables is distinguished by liveliness and originality. They widely reflect folklore traditions. The fables are written by a free verse - clear, clear and expressive. The brightness of the images is also facilitated by various artistic means: folk revolutions, archaisms, proverbs and sayings. Lafontaine fables look like a brief, but very vivid theater performance played by comic actors.

Lafontaine extremely expanded the possibilities of fables as a literary genre. The poet was personally familiar with the royal persons, but he himself was the king. The king of the fable. No wonder all subsequent fabulists, even the greatest, turned to him, studied with him, admired him. Among the almost two hundred fables of the latter, about 30 go back to the originals of Lafontaine.

The outstanding Russian philologist Sergei Averintsev devoted the problem of adapting the plots of fables by Lafontaine by Ivan Krylov. Lafontaine in his fables is the least moralist. He seems to observe life, accepting it as it is, and teaches to use circumstances and people. Already Russo, and behind him Lamartin expressed doubt whether Lafontaine fables are useful for children, do they teach the reader to the idea of ​​the inevitability of vice in a ruthless world?

Vasily Zhukovsky expressed himself categorically: “Do not look for his morality in the fables - it is not! Sometimes the moral of the “fables” of Lafontaine is compared with the covenants of Epicurus: the need for moderation and a wise-evidence of life. In mid -December, Lafontaine is seriously ill. Suddenly, for everyone, he begins to read the Gospel and re -reads them many times.

The writer completely rethinks his life. It changes very much. Lafontaine covers the repentance of his frivolous works, he promises to live the rest of his life in prayer and piety and from now only religious works. Surprisingly, after that he is recovering. And holds back his word. The first thing Lafontaine does is strengthening, translating the poem “Judgment Day” from the Latin.

He even finds time to go to visit his wife in Chateau Tierry.

This is their last meeting ... The writer died on April 13 in the year of life. During the preparations for the funeral ceremony, it was found that the poet’s body was tormented by a power, which he, without a doubt, wore more than one month.So he punished himself for frivolous views and writings, becoming a religious and truly believing person. In a sense, Lafontaine's life itself resembles a fable.

There is a bright hero, and an exciting plot, and interesting events, and an unexpected denouement and ... morality. This man certainly did not sit at the freezing point, but developed and managed to rethink the lived. It is worth a lot. And, having got acquainted with his biography, you don’t even know what is more instructive, his fables or his life.