Kids love fables with animals because they are a beautiful way to say horrible things, and they enable them to catch a glimpse of the world of the grown-ups—they are initiatory readings. What about you? Are you ready to plunge your innocent kids into boiling water and wait for God's Judgement, or would you like to read them a few fables first?
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A question was recently raised
in a rare books group on a social network: are
fables featuring animals for kids? Yes, they are—but of course, not only. I’m French and, as such, a kid of Jean
de La Fontaine—his adaptations of Aesop’s fables have become a part of our DNA.
Kids love fables with animals because they are a beautiful way to say horrible
things, and they enable them to catch a glimpse of the world of the grown-ups—they
are initiatory readings. This reminded me of a peculiar book of mine entitled Le Renard, ou Le Procès des Bêtes (Reynard the Fox (1)) and published in 1743 in Amsterdam—quite a disturbing
reading. It’s a sort of German Roman de Renard
(2) featuring the dreadful
Trigaudin, a cunning fox who cuts off the ears and takes out the eyes of his
enemies, devours their offspring, tricks them and leads them to death. Trigaudin
is a vicious creature who never pays for his crimes; on the contrary, he is
eventually appointed to the highest position of the kingdom—a bloody and immoral
tale, in fact. For kids? Well—they usually enjoy it. These animals tell them
about the violence of the outside world, and they instinctively understand the value of such a teaching.
Mr Goupil and Dr Renard
Trigaudin is what French
people used to call a goupil—a fox;
but the goupil featured in Le Roman de Renard became so famous
during the Middle Age that he eventually gave his name, Renard, to his entire race.
Le Procès des Bêtes is illustrated
with twenty engravings. The first one shows a crowned lion holding a sceptre in
front of an assembly of various animals. Among them is Glutton the Wolf (called
Isegrim in many English editions, the
name derives from Le Roman de Renard),
who complains to His Majesty about the behaviour of Trigaudin, the only subject
who dared not coming to the royal assembly: Trigaudin, reports the Wolf,
pretending to clean the face of his offspring, viciously blinded them with his
claws! Then Gozille the Cock (a.k.a Chanticleer)
shows the beheaded body of his daughter—“Out
of fifteen children,” explains the wretched fowl, “Trigaudin has only left four alive!” Trigaudin came to Gozille a
few weeks ago to tell him he had decided to stop chasing his offspring and that
he was going on a long journey: “Take
care of yourself, and don’t you crow too early in the morning and catch a cold.”
The gullible fowl believed him, and the fox caught him off-guard. Moral of this
chapter: “Never trust your enemy, no
matter the reason why he comes to you.”
Malice Vs Strength
Despite the short morals
that end up each chapter, Le Procès des
Bêtes is a suspicious book that seems to teach our kids that malice always triumphs—indeed,
there’s no satirical dimension to this popular text, as shown by William J.
Thoms in his impressive introduction to the 1844 edition of the fable (London).
Several royal messengers are sent to Trigaudin in his remote castle, whom he
murders or mutilates until he is brought to Court and sentenced to death. With
the rope around his neck, Trigaudin suddenly shouts at the Queen, to tell her
about a wonderful treasure hidden somewhere. “He was taken off the gallows at once, so he could privately talk to the
King and the Queen,” reads the book. Of course, Trigaudin is sent for the so-called
treasure with some royal subjects... whom he tricks and murders. After another
series of evil deeds, our cunning fox has no choice but to face his infuriated
King again. Glutton the Wolf then challenges him to a duel; in the Middle Age, it
was a common way to settle feuds, as God would never allow a guilty man to
triumph over an innocent. Just like the Judgement
of God that consisted in plunging the hand of a suspicious man into boiling
water—if innocent, God would cure his wound within three days’ time; else, he
was put to death. Trigaudin is less strong than his opponent, but more
intelligent—and he eventually wins the fight. As soon as he victoriously comes
out of the arena, all his former enemies rush him to congratulate him. Moral of
this chapter: “You are always wooed when
elevated over the multitude, whether by merit or malice. Each and every one
tries to get close to those Fortune favours. But adversity keeps even your
friends away.”
Of Immoral Creatures
Le Procès des Bêtes is even more
disturbing when you read the highly informative preface of the 1739 edition
(Bruxelles), which is missing from the Amsterdam one: “This story isn’t pure fiction, but an allusion to the story of an
Austrasian Count, as told by Eccard who traces back the word renard to the name of this Count: At the end
of the 9th century lived in the Kingdom of Austrasia a Count named
Reginard or Reinard (...). A councillor of King Swentebold, he was eventually
disgraced, and then retired to his castle. A very subtle politician, he
regularly excited the French or the Germans against his King to suit his
interests.” Here, animals have been openly used to talk about humans. “The various animals featured in this book,”
continues the anonymous author, “are the
symbols of the various conditions of Man. The lion and other strong animals
represent the Nobles, meaning Kings, Princes, Dukes and such. The cock, the
badger, the monkey, the dog, the cat and such represent the common people. (...)
The best way to attract the attention of
the youths being to entertain them, we therefore propose to educate them
through entertainment.” But just like Machiavelli’s The Prince, our book depicts men
not as they should be, but as they are—it doesn’t deal with morality but with worldly wisdom, states William J. Thoms.
Thanks to these animals, we can tell our kids about the wild world we’re living
in—there are many Trigaudins out there, and the sooner they learn about it, the
better. Forewarned is forearmed.
The Wheel of Nature
Trigaudin is eventually freed
of all charges. “You are necessary to
this Court,” states the Lion. “No one
is your equal as far as penetration and memory are concerned. I appoint you
Stadhouder (a Dutch title) and
Governor General of my States.” In fairy tales, the wicked are punished. In
the real world of animals, they triumph! Of course, Trigaudin’s enemies are
villains themselves—hey, what a world these creatures are living in!—, and the
fox often tricks them by flattering their vices. At the end of the day, the
most valuable teaching of this book is probably that morality has nothing to do
with merit in life, and that it hardly rules our lives. Man is first and
foremost an animal and can’t help but act accordingly. Remember the fable about
the scorpion who wanted to cross the river? “How do I know you won’t sting me?” asked the frog he approached to
carry him on her back. The scorpion shrugged: “Because if I do, I’ll die too.” That made sense. But when the two
animals reached the middle of the river, the scorpion stung the frog to death:
“But—why did you do that?” wondered
the dying batrachian. “You will die with
me, now.” The scorpion retorted: “Couldn’t
help myself—it’s my Nature.”
Morality isn’t a natural
phenomenon; it is a manly invention—one that separates us from animals. Now,
fables featuring animals question our kids about their social environment, but
they also question us: is there a mastermind at work behind all our
tribulations? Is someone watching over our shoulders, rewarding or punishing us
according to our deeds? Or are we just like these dumb animals around us? Can we
readily plunge our innocent kids into boiling water and wait for God’s judgement?
Le Procès des bêtes doesn’t care
about all these considerations, and closes on a terrible sentence: “The wheel of Fortune keeps on turning, to
maintain some in fear, and others in hope”—all is said about the bestial
condition of Man on Earth.
(c) Thibault Ehrengardt
(1) In his Manuel du Libraire (Paris, 1814), Jacques-Charles Brunet gives a short insight into the English editions of this book, starting with The Hystorye of Reynart the Foxe... (M.CCCC.LXXXJ.). “This is one of the rarest editions from the press of Caxton. The history of the Regnard has since been several times printed, but with considerable changes. I’ve seen the following copy: The most delectable history of Reynard the Fox... (London, 1684).” He then evokes the editions of 1667, 1681 and 1733.
(2) This collective work from the Middle Age is a cornerstone of the French literature. Jacques-Charles Brunet, in the aforementioned work, writes: “Reynier le renard, histoire très joyeuse et récréative, contenant 70 chapitres, en français et bas allemand (Anvers, 1566). Prosper Marchand says the Flemish text of this volume was republished (...) in 1614, and he thinks that Le Renard, ou le Procès des bêtes, Bruxelles, 1739 (...) was translated from this Flemish version which was itself translated from—or inspired by—the French work Le livre de Maître Regnard. The Grand d’Aussy, on the contrary (...) says these Flemish and French versions were inspired by the old Roman de Renard, written in French verse in the early 13th century by Perrot de Saint-Cloot, or Pierre de Saint-Clost.”
- Le Renard, ou Le Procez des Bestes (Bruxelles, 1739): title page, 3pp, 2pp, 1pp, 132pp, 4pp. This is the first edition, featuring a preface and some forewords. The quality of the 21 engravings (including a title vignette) is far better than in the edition below.
Link: books.google.fr/books?id=cdcTAAAAQAAJ
- Le Renard, ou Le Procès des Bêtes (Amsterdam, 1743): title page, 85pp, 2pp. 20 engravings. This edition features no title vignette and the engravings signed I.C.I are less attractive than those of the first edition. Link: books.google.fr/books?id=V8t3agycTnkC
Above is the picture of an attractive copy of The Most Delectable
Story of REYNAR THE FOX (1694). Currently (January 2015) for sale at
Peter Harrington's.More details here.
This article was spotted by the website DOGPATCH PRESS: www.dogpatchpress.wordpress.com/2014/08/05/rare-books/
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