Le Chat et la Souris et autres fables

Abstract

This is one of four twelve-page oversized (9 x 11¾) pamphlets I bought from Marie Gervais together. There seem to be two others in the series beyond these four. The illustration style is highly reminiscent of that found in several works: Les Plus Belles Fables d'Animaux, published in 1982 by Deux Coqs d'Or; El arca de las Fabulas, published in 1983 by Sigmar in 1983; and work published in English in 1979 by Falcon Books. The surprise is that the artist listed for those is Sergio Cavina, while these pamphlets are explicit in proclaiming P. Latimer as the illustrator. The bibliographical notes here mention a 1976 copyright by Falcon. Someday this mystery will be solved. Here five fables get either two or three pages each, with an abundance of clever and fine-grain illustrations. The first seems straight La Fontaine: The Animals Sick from the Plague. The second is The Cat and the Mouse. The cat does good service but annoys his master by knocking over olive jars and wine bottles, all in pursuit of a single mouse. The master beats and dismisses him, only to see his cellars devastated by mice. MSA is then told in the manner of La Fontaine, but including in its first stage a cart like a wheel-barrow in which to carry the ass! The Never-Happy Turtle is new to me. A young turtle complains of having to carry his shell with him. While he complains to a friendly frog, a horse comes along. The frog can jump to safety, but the turtle cannot. However, his shell protects him even as the horse's hoof lands on his shell. The Viper and the Badger is likewise new to me. A hunter with his dog comes upon a standoff between a viper and a badger. In a rather complex fable, the hunter mistakenly shoots the badger, the viper attacks the curious dog, and the hunter wonders what he was doing in butting into other creatures' lives. The best of the pamphlet's illustrations might be the ugly look on the master's face as he sends the cat whom he has beaten away from his home.