The Sick Stag, Fable, La Fontaine

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The Sick Stag

 A stag, where stags abounded,

Fell sick, and was surrounded

Forthwith by comrades kind,

All pressing to assist,

Or see, their friend, at least,

And ease his anxious mind

An irksome multitude.

"Ah, sirs!" the sick was fain to cry,

"Pray leave me here to die,

As others do, in solitude.

Pray, let your kind attentions cease,

Till death my spirit shall release."

But comforters are not so sent:

On duty sad full long intent,

When Heaven pleased, they went:

But not without a friendly glass;

That is to say, they cropped the grass

And leaves which in that quarter grew,

From which the sick his pittance drew.

By kindness thus compelled to fast,

He died for want of food at last.

The men take off no trifling dole

Who heal the body, or the soul.

Alas the times! do what we will,

They have their payment, cure or kill.

Jean de La Fontaine

Book 12, Fable 6 

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The Rooster and The Fox, Fable, La Fontaine

The rooster and the Fox

On a tree there mounted guard

A veteran rooster, adroit and cunning;

When to the roots a fox up running,

Spoke thus, in tones of kind regard:

"Our quarrel, brother, is at an end;

Henceforth I hope to live your friend;

For peace now reigns

Throughout the animal domains.

I bear the news: come down, I pray,

And give me the embrace fraternal;

And please, my brother, don't delay.

So much the tidings do concern all,

That I must spread them far today.

Now you and yours can take your walks

Without a fear or thought of hawks.

And should you clash with them or others,

In us you'll find the best of brothers;—

For which you may, this joyful night,

Your merry bonfires light.

But, first, let's seal the bliss

With one fraternal kiss."

"Good friend," the rooster replied, "on my word,

A better thing I never heard;

And doubly I rejoice

To hear it from your voice;

And, really there must be something in it,

For yonder come two greyhounds, which I flatter

Myself are couriers on this very matter.

They come so fast, they'll be here in a minute.

I'll down, and all of us will seal the blessing

With general kissing and caressing."

"Adieu," said fox; "my errand's pressing;

I'll hurry on my way,

And we'll rejoice some other day."

So off the fellow scampered, quick and light,

To gain the fox-holes of a neighbouring height,

Less happy in his stratagem than flight.

The rooster laughed sweetly in his sleeve;

It's doubly sweet deceiver to deceive.

Jean de La Fontaine

Book 2, Fable 15 

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THE TORRENT AND THE RIVER, Fables, La Fontaine

XXIII.--THE TORRENT AND THE RIVER

With mighty rush and roar,
Adown a mountain steep
A torrent tumbled,--swelling o'er
Its rugged banks,--and bore
Vast ruin in its sweep.
The traveller were surely rash
To brave its whirling, foaming dash,
But one, by robbers sorely press'd,
Its terrors haply put to test.
They were but threats of foam and sound,
The loudest where the least profound.
With courage from his safe success,
His foes continuing to press,
He met a river in his course:
On stole its waters, calm and deep,
So silently they seem'd asleep,
All sweetly cradled, as I ween,
In sloping banks, and gravel clean,--
They threaten'd neither man nor horse.
Both ventured; but the noble steed,
That saved from robbers by his speed,
From that deep water could not save;
Both went to drink the Stygian wave;
Both went to cross, (but not to swim,)
Where reigns a monarch stern and grim,
Far other streams than ours.

Still men are men of dangerous powers;
Elsewhere, 'tis only ignorance that cowers.

THE TORRENT AND THE RIVER, Full Sheet Image Transfer, mixed media

The Peacock complaining to Juno, Fables, La Fontaine

The Peacock complaining to Juno

The peacock to the queen of heaven 

Complained in some such words: 

"Great goddess, you have given 

To me, the laughing-stock of birds, 

A voice which fills, by taste quite just, 

All nature with disgust; 

Whereas that little paltry thing, 

The nightingale, pours from her throat 

So sweet and ravishing a note, 

She bears alone the honors of the spring." 

In anger Juno heard, 

And cried, "Shame on you, jealous bird! 

Grudge you the nightingale her voice, 

Who in the rainbow neck rejoice, 

Than costliest silks more richly tinted, 

In charms of grace and form unstinted,— 

Who strut in kingly pride, 

Your glorious tail spread wide 

With brilliants which in sheen do 

Outshine the jeweler's bow window? 

Is there a bird beneath the blue 

That has more charms than you? 

No animal in everything can shine. 

By just partition of our gifts divine, 

Each has its full and proper share; 

Among the birds that cleave the air, 

The hawk's a swift, the eagle is a brave one, 

For omens serves the hoarse old raven, 

The rook's of coming ills the prophet; 

And if there's any discontent, 

I have heard not of it. 

"Cease, then, your envious complaint; 

Or I, instead of making up your lack, 

Will take your boasted plumage from your back."

Juno scolds the peacock, Digital Download Large Single Image

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Footless Mice to Eat at Leisure, Mice and Owl, Fables, La Fontaine

The Mice and the Owl

Beware of saying, "Lend an ear,"

To something marvelous or witty.

To disappoint your friends who hear,

Is possible, and were a pity.

But now a clear exception see,

Which I maintain a prodigy

A thing which with the air of fable,

Is true as is the interest table.

A pine was by a woodman felled,

Which ancient, huge, and hollow tree

An owl had for his palace held

A bird the Fates had kept in fee,

Interpreter to such as we.

Within the caverns of the pine,

With other tenants of that mine,

Were found full many footless mice,

But well provisioned, fat, and nice.

The bird had bit off all their feet,

And fed them there with heaps of wheat.

That this owl reasoned, who can doubt?

When to the chase he first went out,

And home alive the vermin brought,

Which in his talons he had caught,

The nimble creatures ran away.

Next time, resolved to make them stay,

He cropped their legs, and found, with pleasure,

That he could eat them at his leisure;

It were impossible to eat

Them all at once, did health permit.

His foresight, equal to our own,

In furnishing their food was shown.

Now, let Cartesians, if they can,

Pronounce this owl a mere machine.

Could springs originate the plan

Of maiming mice when taken lean,

To fatten for his soup tureen?

If reason did no service there,

I do not know it anywhere.

Observe the course of argument:

These vermin are no sooner caught than gone:

They must be used as soon, it's evident;

But this to all cannot be done.

And then, for future need,

I might as well take heed.

Hence, while their ribs I lard,

I must from their elopement guard.

But how? A plan complete!

I'll clip them of their feet!

Now, find me, in your human schools,

A better use of logic's tools!

On your faith, what different art of thought

Has Aristotle or his followers taught?

Jean de La Fontaine

Book 11, Fable 9

 

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The Lobster And Her Daughter, French Fables, La Fontaine

The Lobster And Her Daughter

The wise, sometimes, as lobsters do,

To gain their ends back foremost go.

It is the rower's art; and those

Commanders who mislead their foes,

Do often seem to aim their sight

Just where they don't intend to smite.

My theme, so low, may yet apply

To one whose fame is very high,

Who finds it not the hardest matter

A hundred headed league to scatter.

What he will do, what leave undone,

Are secrets with unbroken seals,

Till victory the truth reveals.

Whatever he would have unknown

Is sought in vain. Decrees of Fate

Forbid to check, at first, the course

Which sweeps at last with torrent force.

One Jove, as ancient fables state,

Exceeds a hundred gods in weight.

So Fate and Louis would seem able

The universe to draw,

Bound captive to their law.

But come we to our fable.

A mother lobster did her daughter chide:

"For shame, my daughter! can't you go ahead?"

"And how go you yourself?" the child replied;

"Can I be but by your example led?

Head foremost should I, singularly, wend,

While all my race pursue the other end."

She spoke with sense: for better or for worse,

Example has a universal force.

To some it opens wisdom's door,

But leads to folly many more.

Yet, as for backing to one's aim,

When properly pursued

The art is doubtless good,

At least in grim Bellona's game.

Jean de La Fontaine

Book 12, Fable 10

The Lobster And Her Daughter, Antique French Fables, Image transfer downloads

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FROG AND RAT, Fable from La Fontaine

The Frog and the Rat

They to bamboozle are inclined,

Says Merlin, who bamboozled are.

The word, though rather unrefined,

Has yet an energy we ill can spare;

So by its aid I introduce my tale.

A well-fed rat, rotund and hale,

Not knowing either Fast or Lent,

Disporting round a frog-pond went.

A frog approached, and, with a friendly greeting,

Invited him to see her at her home,

And pledged a dinner worth his eating,

To which the rat was nothing loath to come.

Of words persuasive there was little need:

She spoke, however, of a grateful bath;

Of sports and curious wonders on their path;

Of rarities of flower, and rush, and reed:

One day he would recount with glee

To his assembled progeny

The various beauties of these places,

The customs of the various races,

And laws that sway the realms aquatic,

(She did not mean the hydrostatic!)

One thing alone the rat perplexed,

He was but moderate as a swimmer.

The frog this matter nicely fixed

By kindly lending him her

Long paw, which with a rush she tied

To his; and off they started, side by side.

Arrived on the lakelet's brink,

There was but little time to think.

The frog leaped in, and almost brought her

Bound guest to land beneath the water.

Perfidious breach of law and right!

She meant to have a supper warm

Out of his sleek and dainty form.

Already did her appetite

Dwell on the morsel with delight.

The gods, in anguish, he invokes;

His faithless hostess rudely mocks;

He struggles up, she struggles down.

A kite, that hovers in the air,

Inspecting everything with care,

Now spies the rat belike to drown,

And, with a rapid wing,

Upbears the wretched thing,

The frog, too, dangling by the string!

The joy of such a double haul

Was to the hungry kite not small.

It gave him all that he could wish

A double meal of flesh and fish.

The best contrived deceit

Can hurt its own contriver,

And perfidy does often cheat

Its author's purse of every stiver.

Jean de La Fontaine

Book 4, Fable 11 

Frog And Rat Image Transfer, ShornSheep on ArtFire

Be sure to look for my digital freebies here on my blog and on my Flickr Photostream.

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ELEPHANT AND APE OF JUPITER Fables of La Fontaine

XXI.--THE ELEPHANT AND THE APE OF JUPITER. 

'Twixt elephant and beast of horned nose

About precedence a dispute arose,

Which they determined to decide by blows.

The day was fix'd, when came a messenger

To say the ape of Jupiter

Was swiftly earthward seen to bear

His bright caduceus through the air.

This monkey, named in history Gill,

The elephant at once believed

A high commission had received

To witness, by his sovereign's will,

The aforesaid battle fought.

Uplifted by the glorious thought,

The beast was prompt on Monsieur Gill to wait,

But found him slow, in usual forms of state,

His high credentials to present.

The ape, however, ere he went,

Bestow'd a passing salutation.

His excellency would have heard

The subject matter of legation:

But not a word!

His fight, so far from stirring heaven,--

The news was not received there, even!

What difference sees the impartial sky

Between an elephant and fly?

Our monarch, doting on his object,

Was forced himself to break the subject.

'My cousin Jupiter,' said he,

'Will shortly, from his throne supreme,

A most important combat see,

For all his court a thrilling theme.'

'What combat?' said the ape, with serious face.

'Is't possible you should not know the case?--'

The elephant exclaim'd--'not know, dear sir,

That Lord Rhinoceros disputes

With me precedence of the brutes?

That Elephantis is at war

With savage hosts of Rhinocer?

You know these realms, not void of fame?'

'I joy to learn them now by name,'

Return'd Sir Gill, 'for, first or last,

No lisp of them has ever pass'd

Throughout our dome so blue and vast.'

Abash'd, the elephant replied,

'What came you, then, to do?--'

'Between two emmets to divide

A spire of grass in two.

We take of all a care;

And, as to your affair,

Before the gods, who view with equal eyes

The small and great, it hath not chanced to rise.' 

These are available as full sheet digital images for mixed media, altered art, scrapbooking, or fabric transfer.

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Digital Freebies - Blue Lady Victorians

Blue Lady Victorians Shorn Sheep Freebies

Freebie Digital Hang Tag or Bookmark Sheet

Lavender Blue Victorian Ladies

Shorn Sheep Flickr PhotoStream

This is a set of  Victorian ladies with Lavender Blue swirls and polka dots that could be used for hang gift tag labels, bookmarks, scrapbooking, altered art, mixed media, or decoupage.  

You can find ShornSheep on ArtFire, Etsy, Flickr and Facebook.  Please come and visit.  Many new items are ready to listed as soon as I can force myself to begin listing again.  I have to do the listing chores in pieces because I would much rather be creating.

ShornSheep on ArtFire 

Follow me on Twitter: @ShornSheep

ShornSheep on Etsy

Shorn Sheep mixed media collage sheets are perfect for making jewelry, altered art, collages, other forms of paper art, scrapbooking, great for mixed media artists.  Images are saved on a letter size sheet and are high resolution with soft grunge and trendy polka dots.  I will be adding free sheets often.  Whenever the urge strikes me, I guess.  I'm working on creating new web banners, buttons, and creating a cohesive look to all my sales venues and blog so as I find the time or need a break, new sets will be listed to my blog.

The actual full resoulution collage sheet is right here.  Just click on the image and it should enlarge or it will take you to flickr to download it, I'm not really sure.  I'm still figuring out this whole blog and linking all over the web business. 

I use GIMP and Inkscape for all my digital art creations.  I love GIMP and with every new version, we get slick new tricks. I found some GIMP related posts that look promising hanging around the web.  Here are some more how to hints and tips on GIMP.  Open source software is the best way to go.  This shows how to create awesome looking collages.

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Blue Victorian Ladies Shorn Sheep Freebie

Now that you have some links to GIMP, how about some more Freebie Digital Sheets?  This Decorative Illustration sheet filled my mind with ideas for some mixed media collaging.  I downloaded it for my assemblages.





This sheet is brought to you by Norma Frances via flickr.  Her ATCs and digital collages are engaging and fun.

Decorative Illustrations -

 FREE TO USE

Please make sure you read Norma Frances usage rules on flickr

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1293/4703239740_e76ef0400d_z.jpg


















                                                                      
          
                        




                Norma Frances' photostream

Those two digital collages are Norma Frances.  I am just in love with her work. And she has lots of digital freebies that can be used for your mixed media work.


Well, folks, now I'm off to try and make my decision on a color palette for my new banners.  It's taken me three days just to narrow down my choices.  I need to just decide and dive and in and start working on the banners, buttons, avatars, and clickable boxes.  If you are stuck and need some color planning yourself, check out these online color palette generators.


My favorite for graphic design for the web is DeGraeve.com. You just enter in the url of any image and it generates the palette for you.  I have over 50 pages saved of palettes and narrowed my choices down to 30.

COLOR PALETTE GENERATOR


This palette color scheme designer is fun to play with but is TOO fun and I end up getting distracted by all the pretty colors.

COLOR SCHEME DESIGNER

This one is just your basic run of the mill color schemer, but it works and is easy.

COLOR SCHEMER ONLINE V2