Jean de La Fontaine was a 17th-century French author who wrote simple animal stories that contained elements of satire and social criticism. He was famous for his absent-mindedness.
He once called at the house of a friend whom he hadn’t seen in some time. When reminded that his friend had died six months earlier, La Fontaine at first expressed surprise but then said, “True! True! I recollect I went to his funeral.”
Another time he met his son at a social gathering but didn’t recognize him. Told who the young man was, La Fontaine replied, “Ah, yes, I thought I had seen him somewhere.”
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