Overview"The Raven and the Fox" is a fable in verse by the French poet Jean de La Fontaine. A fable is a short story, often with animals as characters, that ends with a lesson. Here a clever fox uses sweet words to trick a proud raven and wins a meal without any effort.
Question 1: Who are the two main characters in the poem?
Answer: The two main characters are Mr. Raven and Reynard the Fox.
Question 2: What did the fox want from the raven?
Answer: The fox wanted the food that the raven was holding in his beak.
Question 3: How did the fox flatter the raven?
Answer: He praised the raven's glossy, bright feathers and then said that a bird so beautiful must also have a sweet voice.
Question 4: Why did the raven open his beak?
Answer: The raven wanted to sing and show off his voice because he was pleased by the fox's praise.
Question 5: What happened when the raven opened his beak?
Answer: The food fell from his beak, and the fox took it.
Question 6: Which words describe the fox and which describe the raven?
Answer: The fox is clever and sly. The raven is proud and foolish enough to believe flattery.
Question 7: What is the moral of the poem?
Answer: We should not trust people who praise us too much, because they may have a selfish reason. We should also not be vain, as pride can make us lose what we have.
Question 8: Why is the title suitable?
Answer: The title names the two characters, the Raven and the Fox, whose actions create the story and its lesson.