The Bear and the Gardener
Encyclopedia
The Bear and the Gardener is a fable
of eastern origin that warns against making foolish friendships. There are several variant versions, both literary and oral, across the world and its folk elements are classed as Aarne-Thompson
-Uther type 1586. The La Fontaine version has been taken as demonstrating various philosophical lessons.
as part of his Fables (VIII.10). Though L'Ours et l'amateur des jardins is sometimes translated as "The bear and the amateur gardener", the true meaning is 'the garden lover'. It relates how a solitary gardener encounters a lonely bear and they decide to become companions. One of the bear's duties is to keep the flies off his friend when he takes a nap. Unable to drive off a persistent fly, the bear seizes a paving stone to crush it and kills the gardener as well.
Several lines occurring in the poem are taken as its morals. Midway there is the statement 'In my opinion it's a golden rule/Better be lonely than be with a fool', which the rest of the story bears out. The summing up at the end carries the commentary given by eastern authors that it is better to have a wise enemy than a foolish friend. The fable has given to the French language
the idiom le pavé de l'ours which is used of any ill-considered action with an unfortunate result; an English equivalent might be the proverb 'The path to hell is paved with good intentions'. La Fontaine is considered to have been illustrating the Stoic
precept that there should be measure in everything, including the making of friends. In terms of practical philosophy
, the story also illustrates the important distinction that the bear fails to realise between the immediate good, in this case keeping the flies off a friend, and the ultimate good of safeguarding his welfare.
The story gained currency in England from the 18th century on through translations or imitations of La Fontaine. One of its earliest appearances was in Robert Dodsley
's Select fables of Esop and other fabulists (1764), where it is given the title "The Hermit and the Bear" and a milder ending. In this version a hermit has done the bear a good turn - later still this was identified with taking a thorn from its paw, drawing on the story of Androcles and the Lion. Serving the hermit afterwards out of gratitude, the bear strikes him in the face when driving off a fly and the two then part. It was this version that was taken up in early 19th century rhyming editions for children. Among them are Mary Anne Davis' Fables in Verse: by Aesop, La Fontaine, and others, first published about 1818, and Jefferys Taylor's Aesop in Rhyme (1820). The Russian fabulist Ivan Krylov
also used the title "The Hermit and the Bear" in his imitation of La Fontaine's fable (1809), but retained the usual fatal ending. Later in the century the origin of the story was forgotten in England and it was taken as one of Aesop's Fables
.
involves the pet monkey of a king who strikes at the gnat with a sword and causes his master's death. In the Masaka Jataka
from the Buddhist scriptures it is a carpenter's foolish son who strikes at a fly on his father's head with an axe. In the former the moral is given as 'Do not choose a fool as a friend', while in the latter it is that 'an enemy with sense is better than a friend without it', which is the sentiment on which La Fontaine closes his fable.
There are yet more variants in the oral tradition. One Pakistani source concerns "The Seven Wise Men of Buneyr", who share at least one exploit with the Wise Men of Gotham
; imported into it is the episode of causing injury by trying to drive off flies, in this case from an old woman whom one of them knocks over with the stone he throws in doing so. In Europe the story is of a fool who breaks a magistrate's nose with a cudgel in taking vengeance on a fly. In Italy this is told of Giufà
, in Austria of Foolish Hans. A similar episode also occurs at the start of Giovanni Francesco Straparola
's tale of Fortunio in Facetious Nights
(13.4), written about 1550. That particular collection contains the first instance of several other European folk tales, besides this one.
and Gustave Doré
who were responsible for entire editions of La Fontaine's work. Other series that include the fable are the innovative water colours that Gustave Moreau
painted in 1886 and the coloured etchings by Marc Chagall
(1951) of which L'ours et l'amateur des jardins is number 83. Finally Yves Alix (1890–1969) produced a lithograph of the fable for a de luxe edition of 20 Fables (1966) incorporating the work of as many modernist artists.
An eastern version of the fable is the watercolour in Lucknow style painted by Sital Das round about 1780. This is in the British Library
and shows the bear contemplating the gardener after it has killed him. Yet another Indian miniature of the fable was among those commissioned from the Punjabi artist Imam Bakhsh Lahori in 1837 by a French enthusiast of the fables. Now in the Musée Jean de la Fontaine, it shows the bear in an ornamental garden with the stone raised in its paws. On the other hand Jean-Charles Cazin's 1892 oil painting of L'ours et l'amateur des jardins dispenses with the bear altogether. It is a pure landscape showing a southern farm with the ancient gardener slumbering in the foreground. An etching of this was made by Edmond-Jules Pennequin in 1901.
Fable
A fable is a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, mythical creatures, plants, inanimate objects or forces of nature which are anthropomorphized , and that illustrates a moral lesson , which may at the end be expressed explicitly in a pithy maxim.A fable differs from...
of eastern origin that warns against making foolish friendships. There are several variant versions, both literary and oral, across the world and its folk elements are classed as Aarne-Thompson
Aarne-Thompson classification system
The Aarne–Thompson classification system is a system for classifying folktales. First developed by Antti Aarne and published in 1910, it was translated and enlarged by Stith Thompson...
-Uther type 1586. The La Fontaine version has been taken as demonstrating various philosophical lessons.
The fable
The story was introduced to western readers by Jean de la FontaineJean de La Fontaine
Jean de La Fontaine was the most famous French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his Fables, which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Europe and numerous alternative versions in France, and in French regional...
as part of his Fables (VIII.10). Though L'Ours et l'amateur des jardins is sometimes translated as "The bear and the amateur gardener", the true meaning is 'the garden lover'. It relates how a solitary gardener encounters a lonely bear and they decide to become companions. One of the bear's duties is to keep the flies off his friend when he takes a nap. Unable to drive off a persistent fly, the bear seizes a paving stone to crush it and kills the gardener as well.
Several lines occurring in the poem are taken as its morals. Midway there is the statement 'In my opinion it's a golden rule/Better be lonely than be with a fool', which the rest of the story bears out. The summing up at the end carries the commentary given by eastern authors that it is better to have a wise enemy than a foolish friend. The fable has given to the French language
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
the idiom le pavé de l'ours which is used of any ill-considered action with an unfortunate result; an English equivalent might be the proverb 'The path to hell is paved with good intentions'. La Fontaine is considered to have been illustrating the Stoic
Stoicism
Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium in the early . The Stoics taught that destructive emotions resulted from errors in judgment, and that a sage, or person of "moral and intellectual perfection," would not suffer such emotions.Stoics were concerned...
precept that there should be measure in everything, including the making of friends. In terms of practical philosophy
Practical philosophy
The division of philosophy into a practical and a theoretical discipline has its origin in Aristotle's moral philosophy and natural philosophy categories. In Sweden and Finland courses in theoretical and practical philosophy are taught separately, and are separate degrees...
, the story also illustrates the important distinction that the bear fails to realise between the immediate good, in this case keeping the flies off a friend, and the ultimate good of safeguarding his welfare.
The story gained currency in England from the 18th century on through translations or imitations of La Fontaine. One of its earliest appearances was in Robert Dodsley
Robert Dodsley
Robert Dodsley was an English bookseller and miscellaneous writer.-Life:He was born near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, where his father was master of the free school....
's Select fables of Esop and other fabulists (1764), where it is given the title "The Hermit and the Bear" and a milder ending. In this version a hermit has done the bear a good turn - later still this was identified with taking a thorn from its paw, drawing on the story of Androcles and the Lion. Serving the hermit afterwards out of gratitude, the bear strikes him in the face when driving off a fly and the two then part. It was this version that was taken up in early 19th century rhyming editions for children. Among them are Mary Anne Davis' Fables in Verse: by Aesop, La Fontaine, and others, first published about 1818, and Jefferys Taylor's Aesop in Rhyme (1820). The Russian fabulist Ivan Krylov
Ivan Krylov
Ivan Andreyevich Krylov is Russia's best known fabulist. While many of his earlier fables were loosely based on Aesop and Jean de La Fontaine, later fables were original work, often satirizing the incompetent bureaucracy that was stifling social progress in his time.-Life:Ivan Krylov was born in...
also used the title "The Hermit and the Bear" in his imitation of La Fontaine's fable (1809), but retained the usual fatal ending. Later in the century the origin of the story was forgotten in England and it was taken as one of Aesop's Fables
Aesop's Fables
Aesop's Fables or the Aesopica are a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and story-teller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BCE. The fables remain a popular choice for moral education of children today...
.
Variants
La Fontaine found his fable in a translation of the Bidpai stories, in which the characters are indeed a bear and a gardener. The story ultimately derives from India, where there are two older versions with different characters. The one from the PanchatantraPanchatantra
The Panchatantra is an ancient Indian inter-related collection of animal fables in verse and prose, in a frame story format. The original Sanskrit work, which some scholars believe was composed in the 3rd century BCE, is attributed to Vishnu Sharma...
involves the pet monkey of a king who strikes at the gnat with a sword and causes his master's death. In the Masaka Jataka
Jataka
The Jātakas refer to a voluminous body of literature native to India concerning the previous births of the Buddha....
from the Buddhist scriptures it is a carpenter's foolish son who strikes at a fly on his father's head with an axe. In the former the moral is given as 'Do not choose a fool as a friend', while in the latter it is that 'an enemy with sense is better than a friend without it', which is the sentiment on which La Fontaine closes his fable.
There are yet more variants in the oral tradition. One Pakistani source concerns "The Seven Wise Men of Buneyr", who share at least one exploit with the Wise Men of Gotham
Wise Men of Gotham
Wise Men of Gotham is the early name given to the people of the village of Gotham, Nottinghamshire, in allusion to their reputed simplicity. If tradition is to be believed, the people of Gotham were not so very simple.- Legend :...
; imported into it is the episode of causing injury by trying to drive off flies, in this case from an old woman whom one of them knocks over with the stone he throws in doing so. In Europe the story is of a fool who breaks a magistrate's nose with a cudgel in taking vengeance on a fly. In Italy this is told of Giufà
Giufà
Giufà, or Giucà as he is referred to in some areas of the country, is a character of Italian folklore. His antics have been retold and memorized through centuries of oral tradition. Although the anecdotes from his life mainly revolve around the southern Italian and Sicilian lifestyle, his...
, in Austria of Foolish Hans. A similar episode also occurs at the start of Giovanni Francesco Straparola
Giovanni Francesco Straparola
Giovanni Francesco "Gianfrancesco" Straparola was an Italian writer and fairy tale collector from Caravaggio, Italy. He has been termed the progenitor of the literary form of the fairy tale in Europe...
's tale of Fortunio in Facetious Nights
The Facetious Nights of Straparola
]The Facetious Nights of Straparola , also known as The Nights of Straparola, is a two-volume collection of 75 stories by Italian author and fairy-tale collector Giovanni Francesco Straparola...
(13.4), written about 1550. That particular collection contains the first instance of several other European folk tales, besides this one.
Paintings and prints
Several artists have illustrated the fable of "The Bear and the Gardener", including those like Jean-Baptiste OudryJean-Baptiste Oudry
Jean-Baptiste Oudry was a French Rococo painter, engraver, and tapestry designer. He is particularly well known for his naturalistic pictures of animals and his hunt pieces depicting game.-Biography:...
and Gustave Doré
Gustave Doré
Paul Gustave Doré was a French artist, engraver, illustrator and sculptor. Doré worked primarily with wood engraving and steel engraving.-Biography:...
who were responsible for entire editions of La Fontaine's work. Other series that include the fable are the innovative water colours that Gustave Moreau
Gustave Moreau
Gustave Moreau was a French Symbolist painter whose main emphasis was the illustration of biblical and mythological figures. As a painter of literary ideas, Moreau appealed to the imaginations of some Symbolist writers and artists.- Biography :Moreau was born in Paris. His father, Louis Jean Marie...
painted in 1886 and the coloured etchings by Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall
Marc Chagall Art critic Robert Hughes referred to Chagall as "the quintessential Jewish artist of the twentieth century."According to art historian Michael J...
(1951) of which L'ours et l'amateur des jardins is number 83. Finally Yves Alix (1890–1969) produced a lithograph of the fable for a de luxe edition of 20 Fables (1966) incorporating the work of as many modernist artists.
An eastern version of the fable is the watercolour in Lucknow style painted by Sital Das round about 1780. This is in the British Library
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
and shows the bear contemplating the gardener after it has killed him. Yet another Indian miniature of the fable was among those commissioned from the Punjabi artist Imam Bakhsh Lahori in 1837 by a French enthusiast of the fables. Now in the Musée Jean de la Fontaine, it shows the bear in an ornamental garden with the stone raised in its paws. On the other hand Jean-Charles Cazin's 1892 oil painting of L'ours et l'amateur des jardins dispenses with the bear altogether. It is a pure landscape showing a southern farm with the ancient gardener slumbering in the foreground. An etching of this was made by Edmond-Jules Pennequin in 1901.