Fablio the Magician: The Lion and the Gnat, Adapted from La Fontaine's Fable
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Authors
De la Grandière, Georges
La Fontaine, Jean de
Issue Date
1969
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Type
Book, Whole
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Abstract
Here is an English version of original French work. I now have all six of the six books in the English series, four in the French, and one in German. The story starts with Mr Buzz, a mosquito enjoying springtime. He is due for a final rehearsal of a symphonic orchestra that he directs. His rehearsal is distracted by one musician playing flat and a cleaning lady doing her chores. Maestro Buzz seems to make his own posters and post them himself for the upcoming performance. Everybody comes except (and now we finally approach the fable) the lion, who is off camping for the weekend. The fable then proceeds as it does in La Fontaine. The English may struggle a bit. This mosquito likes to surprise his audience, so now he appears suddenly from the flies like a helicopter landing on a terrace…. Might that be on the fly? The text has been converted to English, but the illustrations have not. One of Mr. Buzz's posters advertises Maestro Bzz. That was his name in the French edition. I cannot make sense of the English moral, either in the body of the work or in the closing presentation of the text of the fable. La Fontaine has qu'aux grands périls tel a pu se soustraire, / Qui périt pour la moindre affaire. Spector translates from great perils one may well escape, / Only to die in the slightest scrape. That makes more sense to me. The cartoon pictures are evidently movie stills. This book has been in a musty basement too long!
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Publisher
R.L. Cavallere Ltd., London
distributed by David Gold & Son (Holdings) Ltd.
distributed by David Gold & Son (Holdings) Ltd.
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Identifier
10117 (Access ID)