"Maitre corbeau, sur un arbre perche" (Mr. Crow perched on a tree).--"Mr.!" what does that word really mean? What does it mean before a proper noun? What is its meaning here? What is a crow? What is "un arbre perche"? We do not say "on a tree perched," but perched on a tree. So we must speak of poetical inversions, we must distinguish between prose and verse. "Tenait dans son bec un fromage" (Held a cheese in his beak)--What sort of a cheese? Swiss, Brie, or Dutch? If the child has never seen crows, what is the good of talking about them? If he has seen crows will he believe that they can hold a cheese in their beak? Your illustrations should always be taken from nature. "Maitre renard, par l'odeur alleche" (Mr. Fox, attracted by the smell).--Another Master! But the title suits the fox,--who is master of all the tricks of his trade. You must explain what a fox is, and distinguish between the real fox and the conventional fox of the fables. "Alleche." The word is obsolete; you will have to explain it. You will say it is only used in verse. Perhaps the child will ask why people talk differently in verse. How will you answer that question? "Alleche, par l'odeur d'un fromage." The cheese was held in his beak by a crow perched on a tree; it must indeed have smelt strong if the fox, in his thicket or his earth, could smell it. This is the way you train your pupil in that spirit of right judgment, which rejects all but reasonable arguments, and is able to distinguish between truth and falsehood in other tales. "Lui tient a peu pres ce langage" (Spoke to him after this fashion).--"Ce langage." So foxes talk, do they! They talk like crows! Mind what you are about, oh, wise tutor; weigh your answer before you give it, it is more important than you suspect. "Eh! Bonjour, Monsieur le Corbeau!" ("Good-day, Mr. Crow!")--Mr.! The child sees this title laughed to scorn before he knows it is a title of honour. Those who say "Monsieur du Corbeau" will find their work cut out for them to explain that "du." "Que vous etes joli! Que vous me semblez beau!" ("How handsome you are, how beautiful in my eyes!")--Mere padding. The child, finding the same thing repeated twice over in different words, is learning to speak carelessly. If you say this redundance is a device of the author, a part of the fox's scheme to make his praise seem all the greater by his flow of words, that is a valid excuse for me, but not for my pupil. "Sans mentir, si votre ramage" ("Without lying, if your song").--"Without lying." So people do tell lies sometimes. What will the child think of you if you tell him the fox only says "Sans mentir" because he is lying? "Se rapporte a votre plumage" ("Answered to your fine feathers").--"Answered!" What does that mean? Try to make the child compare qualities so different as those of song and plumage; you will see how much he understands.