Diotimos Library · Journals, Notebooks & Fragments Collection · Bilingual Edition

Joseph Joubert

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II

Name: The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II
Author: Joseph Joubert

Complete Notebooks · French with an independent English translation.

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The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume IIYEAR 1807 · Entry 4965

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English Page · Branch 1184 of 4529

YEAR 1807 · Entry 4965

Translator notesBook Mode

French

p. 2367

11 janvier.

Animaux. Dans la fable, ils sont parlans. Ce sont presque des hommes. Dans la réalité, ils n’ont point avec nous les mêmes rapports et nous n’avons point envers eux les mêmes devoirs. Ils ne nous donnent point leur lait et leur laine, on le leur prend. Il n’y a pas de bienfait où il n’y eut pas de volonté. Enfin, s’ils pouvoient se plaindre, nous aurions tort. Mais les poëtes qui se plaignent en leur nom n’ont pas raison, à moins qu’ils ne les fassent parler en personne comme Lafontaine. Voyez sa fable de L’homme et la couleuvre. Les discours du bœuf à la vache y sont admirables. La tirade de Rouche est ridicule.

The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volume II: YEAR 1807

p. 2368

January 11.

Animals. In fable, they speak. They are almost men. In reality, they do not stand in the same relations to us, and we do not have the same duties toward them. They do not give us their milk and wool; we take it from them. There is no benefaction where there was no will. Finally, if they could complain, we would be in the wrong. But the poets who complain in their name are not right, unless they make them speak in person, as La Fontaine does. See his fable of The Man and the Snake. The ox’s speeches to the cow are admirable there. Rouche’s tirade is ridiculous.

T6.The argument distinguishes animals in fable from their relation to people in reality. The source’s singular le after milk and wool is retained as it in English. Benefaction preserves the distinction between something taken and something intentionally given; the passage remains Joubert’s assertion. The ox’s speeches to the cow follows the printed à la vache rather than substituting another conjunction. Rouche remains the legible name; a possible lost final letter is not supplied.

T254.The paragraph continues at the top of page 584. The facsimile confirms unaccented eut. Two independent facsimile inspections read only Rouche at the right edge of page 584; a lost final r is possible, but is not certified or silently supplied. The singular le after lait et laine and the phrase discours du bœuf à la vache remain unchanged.

About This Reading Edition

Joubert’s notebooks return to the work of thinking and writing, the demands of friendship, and questions of faith, beauty and conduct. This edition pairs the French with a new English translation, preserving the order of the chosen source and the unfinished character of its fragments. Dates and source references allow readers to follow a thought through time or return to its printed context.

Historical Text and Translation

The French text follows André Beaunier’s 1938 edition of Les Carnets de Joseph Joubert, published by Gallimard from Joubert’s autograph manuscripts. Volume II continues the notebooks and includes seventy undated pieces. French and English are aligned paragraph by paragraph, retaining the source order, printed dates and page references so readers can return to the facsimile.

About Diotimos Editions

Diotimos Editions prepared this new English translation directly from the French, preserving Joubert’s distinctions, recurring images, ambiguities and unfinished thoughts. Translator’s notes clarify wording, references and uncertain readings: Essential keeps notes that help explain a passage, while All includes technical detail. Annotations from the 1938 source edition remain distinct from the new translator’s notes.

Rights

The linked facsimile records identify the French source as public domain in the United States. The new English translation and editorial notes are © 2026 Diotimos, with source annotations and new editorial contributions credited separately. This edition pairs the complete French notebooks with an independent English translation, preserving the distinction between Joubert’s text and its accompanying notes.