The most widely read French poet of the 1600s, Jean de La Fontaine achieved enduring popularity with his rhyming stories of sly foxes, industrious ants, ravenous wolves, and other creatures. Drawing upon the tales of ancient Greek, Roman, and Indian storytellers, La Fontaine created a new literary milieu for "The Cicada and the Ant," "The Crow and the Fox," "City Rat and Country Rat," and other fables.
Originally published in 1927, this splendid...