Gout and the Spider as told by the French author Jean de La Fontaine (1621-1695). Art and fable appeared in a collection published in 1668. The fable tells how gout affects wealthy people rather than poor people. The spider finds that it prospers best when lodging with poor people. Gout is an inherited disorder of uric-acid metabolism occurring predominantly in men, characterized by painful inflammation of the joints, especially of the feet and hands, and arthritic attacks resulting from elevated levels of uric acid in the blood and the deposition of urate crystals around the joints. The condition can become chronic and result in deformity.