2. Le Contes du Chat Perché
: the satirical French lit erature
In French lit erary, fables st ories w ere allegedly appeared in t he M iddle Ages or w hich so-called Le M oyen Age in t he form of a narrat ive st ory. During t he cent ury, t he lit erary
w ork in realism and sat irist w ere t w o st yle w hich much appreciat ed by t he public. Fable t hat appeared heredit ary in societ y, solely cont ain moral values and underlined philosophy t hat
good life and bad life. Le Rom an de Renard, or The Tale of a Fox w as first fable of t he most popular st ory t ale in t he French lit erary hist ory. This fable show s Fox as t he main charact er
w ho is an int elligent animal as w ell as cunning one. The Fox or Renard has a high spirit , a good bravery and courage, clever in deploying w ords and charm ing at t it ude t hat makes he
much preferred and becomes successful charact er w ho can live in t he palace as w ell as w it h t he rich fam ily. This fable lat er on becomes popular in French vocabulary w hich means fox
as a kind of animal as w ell as it s denot at ive meaning. One of t he French fable t hat w ill be discussed in t his art icle is a collect ion of fables
ent it led Les Cont es du Chat Perché or The Tales of a Perched Chat , w rit t en by a French aut hor, named M arcel Aymé. Aymé, t he aut hor w as born in 1902, and published his first
collect ion of t hese fables in 1934. He st art s his career as a journalist since his arrival in Paris in 1925, Aymé has finished many journalism art icles, including lit erary w orks, in t he form of
romance, novels, fairy t ales, drama and m ovie script s. As his w rit ing st yle w as so popular in playing his language and easily underst ood t hat placed his became know n as a t alent ed
young w rit er during t hat period of t ime. Passing his childhood and t eenager life in a family of blacksmit hs in rural
environment s, make M arcel Aymé feel close t o nat ure and t he common people. In fact , he oft en spent his t ime by w alking around his village and t he forest nearby. All t hese moment s
had st rong affect s for him t ow ards t he development of his t alent s in t he fut ure as an aut hor of fables. During his t ravel around villages and forest s, Aymé discovered t he myst eries of
t he animal’s life and it s nat ural surroundings. Through his experiences, M arcel Aymé successfully accom plished Les Cont es du Chat Perché as fable lit erat ure in t ragi-comedie’s
genre. His collect ion of fables w hich has no less popular w it h t he of Le Rom an de Renard can be enjoyed by readers of all ages. This fable collect ion consist ing of 17 fables and w as
ext raordinary acclaimed by t he readers, and w as reprint ed for several t imes over a period of 50 years since it w as first published Et erst ein, 1998: 32-33. The st ories in Les Cont es du
Chat Perché w as w rit t en by using daily language so t hat it is easy t o underst and. Bot h t he
flow ing or sequences and and t he t hemes of t he st ory are also simply displayed and rich w it h ridiculous moment s and also dominat ed by funny behavior of different charact ers.
In Les Cont es du Chat Perché, M arcel Aymé w as show ing his expert ise in displaying charact ers of animals. He somet imes does not display some animal figures as it is depict ed
as st ereot ype. For example cat s as pet s w hich is usually port rayed st ereot ype as slacker animal, but in t his fable collect ion Aymé depict s it as a w ise animal w ho loves t o help ot her
animals. His hobby as perching in a t ree le chat perché makes t he Cat be able t o see and observe t he variet y of moment s and act ivit ies t aking place around him and t he he is able t o
give advices, counseling, and even forbid ot her animals. Similarly, it is also happened t o t he Donkey. As a donkey usually st ereot yped as a st upid and dumb animal, ot herw ise in his
st ory, Aymé describs it as a cunning animal figure. And t he even t he goose t hat usually looks graceful animals unfort unat ely in his st ory, it is appearing as st upid and dumb goose.
The similar t hings also t akes place t o t he figures of Tigers and Wolves. Convent ionally, Tiger and Wolf figures are st ereot yped as t he w ild animals, vicious and
loved killing his vict ims cruelly. But in Les Cont es du Chat Perché, t here w as a moment w hen t he Tiger and t he Wolf face t o Duck, t hen bot h, Tiger and W olf made a prom ise t hat t hey
w ill not be mean and cruel anymore. Bot h of t hese animals, Tiger and W olf have a hum ble at t it udes and are w illing t o change t heir bad habit s. It seems t hat some charact ers described
in t he Les Cont es du Chat Perché have a unique charact er unlike t he st ereot ype t hat has been t he generally underst ood and believed.
Like in Indonesia, in French t he appearance of fable as a lit erary w ork t hat is bot h show ing t he realism and sat irist , is very popular. Fable oft en full of moral values w hich
implied by t he funny and comical charact ers act ually present s a role as sat ire. For example, t he Pig charact er in Les Cont es du Chat Perché has been described overw eight . But t he Pig
w ish t o have t he same look as t he Peacock w hose bird figures, beaut iful and slim. To pursue t he desire, Pig does some exercises every day and also observes diet . From t his, it can be
underst ood t hat w hen t he fat body of Pig desire t o have slim body as t he Peacock, drive some mot ivat ions for t he Pig t o do exercise and diet every day. W it hout t hose st rong effort ,
t he w ish of Pig t o have slim body w ill soon disappeared. When w e w ish somet hing should be follow ed by st rong effort . W it hout any effort , our desires w ill be in vain. We can conclude
t hat fables provide a crit ical view w ill invit es t he readers t o explore t he moral values and some principles of life. The st ory in t his fables can be seen as mirror for our lives.
3. The moral values in Le Contes du Chat Perché as the learning materials.
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