La Fontaine had made of the story an artificial pastoral in which Tircis tried to charm the fishes to the hook of the shepherdess Annette but did not succeed until he used a net to catch them. It ended with the cynical reflection that force accomplishes more than charm in the context of statecraft, which echoes the conclusion in Herodotus.[6] However, different morals were drawn by other writers. According to Babrius, only when one succeeds is it time to rejoice.[7] For William Caxton and Roger L'Estrange, the lesson to be learned is that there is a proper time and place for everything.[8]