The Fox and the Grapes
This is the shortest fable that Jean de La Fontaine ever published. It has only 12 verses and 60 words.
The fox finds an unattainable goal and, instead of complaining, invents a fake reason why he will not try to reach this goal.
Le Renard et les Raisins
Certain renard gascon, d’autres disent normand,
Mourant presque de faim,
vit au haut d’une treille
Des raisins, mûrs apparemment,
Et couverts d’une peau vermeille.
Le galant en eût fait volontiers un repas ;
Mais comme il n’y pouvait atteindre :
Ils sont trop verts, dit-il,
et bons pour des goujats.
Fit-il pas mieux que de se plaindre ?
The Fox and the Grapes
Certain Gascon fox, others say Norman,
Almost dying of hunger,
saw at the top of a vine
Grapes, apparently ripe,
And covered with vermilion skin.
The gallant would gladly have made a meal of it;
But since he couldn't reach them:
They're too green, he said,
and good for cads.
Didn't he do better than complaining?
First Fable: The Circada and the Ant
Previous Fable: The Wolf and the Stork
Next Fable: The Wolf, the Goat, and the Kid
The fox is said to be either Gascon or Norman
Gascons, in French, designates the inhabitants of the South-West region of France called Gascony. Gascon people were reputed to be boastful, braggart, and quarrelsome.
Norman people, the inhabitants of Normandy, are said to be withdrawn and cunning, and to refuse to engage openly.
Does it make sense to complain about something unreachable?
It is better to no longer think about something you will never be able to do than to waste energy complaining about it. And if you must invent a fake reason to do that, this is not really a problem, as long as you don't tell everybody about your fake reasoning.