City rat and land rat
City councilor and landlubber (French: Le Rat de ville et le Rat des champs ) is the ninth fable from the first book of the collection of fables, Fables Choisies, Mises En Vers by Jean de La Fontaine . The fable tells of a field rat who, with the appearance of wisdom , wants to prove her superiority over a city rat. The city councilor had invited the landlubber to a lavish meal in their city apartment, but city life scared the landlubber. She therefore interrupts the meal together:
“Thank you very much!” Says that, “Tomorrow
Come to me in the country.
Can't get you, of course
Such a royal feast there.
Just, but unenvoyed,
Really aware of
I eat there. Ugh such pleasure
Who is spoiled by fear! ""
Interpretations
On the one hand, this fable can be viewed as a comparison between the secular life of the nobility at court and life in seclusion in the country, the latter referring to the life of the poet La Fontaines.
On the other hand, it says in the fable that the city councilor invites the landlubber, but actually it is not an invitation, because La Fontaine writes: "The table was already set." The two rats steal ortolans that were left over from someone else's meal, and everything happens at night, so in secret. The rats flee when they hear a noise at the door, because they do not want to be caught stealing or eating at someone else's table, negating the exchange, since a parasite assumes that it has to hide. Two conclusions can be drawn from this: firstly, it is difficult to observe a parasite, since it disappears when the door is opened, and it reappears when it is closed again. It seems as if the observation drives away the phenomenon under observation. Second, a city rat can tolerate the noise of a city that indicates the proximity of other people, because it comes back as soon as it stops. Landlubbers, on the other hand, live at home, live in isolation and don't know any noise. She believes that noise must be pleasure or suffering. In reality, through her visit, she exchanges the silence of solitude for the noise of society. The fable does not answer the question of which way of life should be preferred, since in the course of getting used to it, a complexity will appear simple.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Le Rat de ville et le Rat des champs - Jean de la Fontaine - Commentaire. Retrieved January 26, 2020 .
- ↑ https://digital.blb-karlsruhe.de/blbihd/periodical/pageview/5190596
- ^ Theodor M. Bardmann : Circular positions: Constructivism as practical theory . Springer-Verlag, 2013, ISBN 978-3-322-91676-1 , p. 181 ( google.de [accessed on January 26, 2020]).