FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 8: At the time when this was written there was much discussion
among the learned in France as to the powers of reasoning in animals.]

[Footnote 9: The allusion is to Sobieski, whose victory over the Turks
made him famous throughout Europe in 1673. La Fontaine had frequently
met him in the salons of the cultured ladies of France.]

[Footnote 10: A nymph of one of the rivers of Hades named after her. She
became the mother of Zelus (zeal), Nike (victory), Kratos (power), and
Bia (strength).]

[Footnote 11: Also a river of Hades, the realm of the dead.]

[Footnote 12: Descartes is meant as the rival of the old philosopher
Epicurus.]




XXXI

THE DOG WITH HIS EARS CROPPED

(BOOK X.--No. 9)


"What have I done to be treated in this way? Mutilated by my own master!
A nice state to be in! Dare I present myself before other dogs? O ye