Novissimè indignata, dum vult validius
Inflare sese, rupto jacuit corpore.
It would be extremely difficult to attain, in any translation, the laconic brevity with which this story is told. There is not a single word which can be termed superfluous; yet there is nothing wanting to complete the effect of the picture. The gravity, likewise, of the narrative when applied to describe an action of the most consummate absurdity; the self-important, but anxious questions, and the mortifying dryness of the answers, furnish an example of a delicate species of humour, which cannot easily be conveyed by corresponding terms in another language. La Fontaine was better qualified than any another for this attempt. He saw the merits of the original, and has endeavoured to rival them; but even La Fontaine has failed.
Une Grenouille vit un boeuf
Qui lui sembla de belle taille.
Elle, qui n’etoit pas grosse en tout comme un oeuf,
Envieuse s’étend, et s’enfle, et se travaille
Pour égaler l’animal en grosseur;
Disant, Regardez bien ma soeur,
Est ce assez, dites moi, n’y suis-je pas encore?