The Fox and the Stork
The Fox and the Stork, also known as The Fox and the Crane, is one of Aesop's fables and is first recorded in the collection of Phaedrus. It is numbered 426 in the Perry Index.[1]
The fable and its uses
A fox invites a stork to eat with him and provides soup in a bowl, which the fox can lap up easily; however, the stork cannot drink it with its beak. The stork then invites the fox to a meal, which is served in a narrow-necked vessel. It is easy for the stork to access but impossible for the fox.
The fable has been illustrated since the Middle Ages in Europe. One of the earliest depictions is on the top of a column on the north side of the cloisters in the Collegiate church of Saint Ursus in Aosta, Italy. In the Romanesque style of the 12th century, both the fox's[2] and the stork's[3] tricks are shown on different sides. While medieval and early Renaissance pictorial convention allowed composite designs the episodes of the two meals both appeared in the same design. Thereafter, only one could appear, and it was usually the stork's revenge that was depicted. However, since the 19th century some artists have been returning to composite designs.[4]
One exception in the applied arts occurred when both episodes were included among the 39 hydraulic statues built for the Versailles labyrinth that was constructed for Louis XIV to further the Dauphin's education.[5] A similar solution is provided by the suggestive sculptures in the square of Barzy-sur-Marne, where the two animals are juxtaposed at right angles and the meal is left to the viewer's imagination.[6] A different solution was chosen by Pieter Bruegel the Elder in his depiction of Netherlandish Proverbs (1559). The saying 'The fox and the crane entertain each other' had come to mean that tricksters look out for their own advantage, so the two are pictured at the centre of the painting seated before their preferred receptacle.
The story's popularity was further assured after it appeared in La Fontaine's Fables (I.18).[7] It then began to be applied on a number of domestic items, including buttons,[8] firebacks,[9] snuff graters, household china and tiles,[10] and on wallpaper.[11] Among the artists who have chosen it as a subject are Frans Snyders (about 1650),[12]Jan van Kessel, senior (1661),[13] Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1747)[14] and his son Jacques-Charles,[15] Hippolyte Lecomte,[16] and Philippe Rousseau (1816–1887).[17] It also features on the right-hand side of Gustav Klimt's "The Fable" (1883). There the fox is accompanied by two storks, one of which has a frog in its beak – in reference to the fable of The Frogs Who Desired a King.[18] In the contemporary fountain sculpture by the Catalan Eduard Batiste Alentorn (1855–1920) in Barcelona's Parc de la Ciutadella, the frustrated fox kicks over the tall vessel, from which the fountain's water pours.
In the 20th century, Le Renard et la Cigogne figured in the series of medals illustrating La Fontaine's fables cast by Jean Vernon (1940)[19] and Marc Chagall made it Plate 9 in his etchings of them (1952).[20] Among European musical settings was one by Louis Lacombe (op. 72, 1875). Later it appeared as the first piece in Andre Asriel's 6 Fabeln nach Aesop (1972).[21] In 1995 it was among the seven in Catalan translation that the composer Xavier Benguerel i Godó set for recitation with orchestral accompaniment.[22]
The fable has also appeared on postage stamps illustrating La Fontaine's fables. These include in the 11 franc commemorative set of 1977 from Burundi;[23] the 35 franc stamp issued by Dahomey in 1972,[24] later overprinted as a 50 franc value for Benin;[25] the 170 forint stamp issued as part of a set by Hungary in 1960;[26] and a 1972 Monaco commemoration of the 350th anniversary of the fabulist's birth.[27]
References
- ^ "Mythfolklore.net". Mythfolklore.net. Retrieved 18 January 2012.
- ^ Wikimedia
- ^ Wikimedia
- ^ See Laura Gibb's collection of book illustrations
- ^ Bibliothèque nationale de France scan of Charles Perrault's description of the Labyrinth
- ^ Champagne Fay site
- ^ English translation
- ^ Creighton University website
- ^ Harmonie du Logis
- ^ "Examples in the collection of the Victorian & Albert Museum". Collections.vam.ac.uk. 25 August 2009. Retrieved 18 January 2012.
- ^ "Culture.gouv.fr". Retrieved 18 January 2012.
- ^ Wikimedia
- ^ Česky. "Wikigalery.org". Wikigallery.org. Retrieved 18 January 2012.
- ^ "Art-prints-on-demand.com". Art-prints-on-demand.com. Retrieved 18 January 2012.
- ^ "Flickr.com". Flickr.com. 30 May 2010. Retrieved 18 January 2012.
- ^ "Culture.gouv.fr". Retrieved 18 January 2012.
- ^ Artnet
- ^ "Klimgallery.org". Klimtgallery.org. Retrieved 18 January 2012.
- ^ "V Coins". Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
- ^ "Contemporary Art Holdings". Archived from the original on 27 May 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
- ^ There is a performance on You Tube
- ^ "Available on YouTube". Videosurf.com. Retrieved 18 January 2012.
- ^ Creighton University
- ^ Stamp Community,
- ^ Free stamp catalogue
- ^ "Creighton.edu". Creighton.edu. 1 December 1960. Retrieved 18 January 2012.
- ^ "Creighton.edu". Creighton.edu. Retrieved 18 January 2012.
External links
Media related to The fox and the stork at Wikimedia Commons
- 15th–20th century book illustrations online
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Fables
- The Ant and the Grasshopper
- The Ass and his Masters
- The Ass and the Pig
- The Ass Carrying an Image
- The Ass in the Lion's Skin
- The Astrologer who Fell into a Well
- The Bear and the Travelers
- The Belly and the Members
- The Bird-catcher and the Blackbird
- The Bird in Borrowed Feathers
- The Boy Who Cried Wolf
- The Cat and the Mice
- The Cock and the Jewel
- The Cock, the Dog and the Fox
- The Crow and the Pitcher
- The Crow and the Snake
- The Deer without a Heart
- The Dog and Its Reflection
- The Dog and the Wolf
- The Dove and the Ant
- The Eagle and the Fox
- The Farmer and the Stork
- The Farmer and the Viper
- The Fir and the Bramble
- The Fisherman and the Little Fish
- The Fowler and the Snake
- The Fox and the Crow
- The Fox and the Grapes
- The Fox and the Lion
- The Fox and the Mask
- The Fox and the Sick Lion
- The Fox and the Stork
- The Fox and the Weasel
- The Fox and the Woodman
- The Frog and the Ox
- The Frogs Who Desired a King
- The Goat and the Vine
- The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs
- The Honest Woodcutter
- The Horse and the Donkey
- The Horse that Lost its Liberty
- The Lion and the Mouse
- The Lion, the Bear and the Fox
- The Man with Two Mistresses
- The Mischievous Dog
- The Miser and his Gold
- The Moon and her Mother
- The Mountain in Labour
- The Mouse and the Oyster
- The North Wind and the Sun
- The Oak and the Reed
- The Old Man and Death
- The Old Woman and the Doctor
- The Rose and the Amaranth
- The Satyr and the Traveller
- The Sick Kite
- The Snake and the Crab
- The Snake in the Thorn Bush
- The Tortoise and the Hare
- Town Mouse and Country Mouse
- The Travellers and the Plane Tree
- The Trees and the Bramble
- The Two Pots
- The Walnut Tree
- Washing the Ethiopian White
- The Weasel and Aphrodite
- The Wolf and the Crane
- The Wolf and the Lamb
- The Woodcutter and the Trees
- The Young Man and the Swallow
- An ass eating thistles
- The Bear and the Gardener
- Belling the Cat (also known as The Mice in Council)
- The Blind Man and the Lame
- The Boy and the Filberts
- Chanticleer and the Fox
- The Dog in the Manger
- The drowned woman and her husband
- The Elm and the Vine
- The Fox and the Cat
- The Gourd and the Palm-tree
- The Hawk and the Nightingale
- The miller, his son and the donkey
- The Monkey and the Cat
- The Priest and the Wolf
- The Scorpion and the Frog
- The Shepherd and the Lion
adaptations
- Aesop's Film Fables
- The Grasshopper and the Ants
adaptations
- Demetrius of Phalerum
- Phaedrus
- Babrius
- Avianus
- Dositheus Magister
- Alexander Neckam
- Adémar de Chabannes
- Odo of Cheriton
- John Lydgate
- Kawanabe Kyōsai
- Laurentius Abstemius
- Roger L'Estrange
- Gabriele Faerno
- Hieronymus Osius
- Marie de France
- Robert Henryson
- Jean de La Fontaine
- Ivan Krylov
- Nicolas Trigault
- Robert Thom
- Zhou Zuoren