Beastly behaviour

In Competition No. 2438 you were invited to write, in the spirit of Aesop or La Fontaine, a rhymed fable involving animals.

Last week I doubted my qualifications to be a judge, but this week my credentials are copper-bottomed, since I have translated selections of the fables of both Aesop and La Fontaine: a sympathetic pair. Though separated by 2,000 years, I feel that the reputedly deformed Phrygian slave and the lazy courtier of the Sun King would have liked each other. I was lucky enough to be introduced to them as a child in wonderfully illustrated editions — Tenniel for Aesop and the great 19th-century draughtsman Grandville for La Fontaine.

Groggy with peasant wisdom, I present the prizewinners, printed below, with £25 each, and award Paul Griffin the bonus fiver.

The elephant was in the chair,
And all the animals were there.
‘Now who can count?’ the chairman said.
‘Myself, I have a mighty head,
But cannot get past two or three.’
And