404 years ago today, on July 8, 1621 (May 19, 1621 lunar calendar), the French writer La Fontaine was born. Illustration of the French writer La Fontaine's allegorical poem "Two Dove" Jean de La Fontaine (1621-1695) was one of the representative writers of French classical literature and a famous allegorical poet. La Fontaine was born on July 8, 1621 in a small official family in Chambane. He grew up in the countryside and was familiar with nature and peasant life. He studied theology in Paris at the age of 19, changed his studies to law a year and a half later, and after graduation was awarded the title of lawyer at the Supreme Court of Paris. He learned the inside story of the dark corruption of the court and was very disgusted with this profession. He soon returned to the country to live a leisurely life as a squire. But he was not good at managing the family business, and was forced to sell his land and go to Paris to join Fouquet, the then director of finance. Fouquet gave him an annuity and asked him to write poems and plays. In 1661, Fouquet was arrested. La Fontaine wrote poems to petition the king, offended the court, and had to flee to Limoges. From then on, he was very dissatisfied with the feudal court. At the end of 1663, he returned to Paris and frequented the Salon (literary club), which gave him more opportunities to contact and observe the upper class and the powerful, and also made him meet some poets and dramatists such as Molière and Racine. In 1668, he published the first volume of "Fable Poems", which caused a great response and established his literary reputation. By 1694, a total of 12 volumes had been published. In addition, he published five volumes of "Story Poems". He often used folk language, satirized the ugliness and evil of the French upper class through animal images, and mocked the darkness of the church and the decay of Scholasticism. He had a great influence on later European allegorists.