Hi,
Today, we continue my recent mini-series where I rewrite the morals of Aesop’s Fables…
One thing I want to note before I begin. With a lot of these fables, I notice too much weight given to what is “true until it isn’t”. I think many of the stories I note for having a problematic moral fall afoul of this point. In these cases, Aesop’s foolish characters are distracted by details and unable to see why a given situation might change in the future. As always, the wise benefit from taking a longer view.
Thanks for reading.
Tim
'The Gardener Watering the Vegetables' – in this insane story, a man asks a gardener why the wild vegetables are flourishing while the cultivated ones remain puny. The gardener responds – it is because the Earth is a mother to one and a stepmother to the others.
Moral: Children fed by a stepmother are not nourished like those who have their true mother.
Goodness… I understand vilifying the stepmother is a long-running tradition of yesteryear’s literature. I’m wondering now – is this the story that started it all? In any event, we here at TOA aren’t very supportive of Aesop’s pseudo-science…
From my experience, when an inept person is in charge, some people still flourish – just like how the wild vegetables manage to excel despite the idiot gardener. But if a competent person is charge, it really doesn’t matter who is brought in because everyone will succeed in the environment.
TYC: A bad gardener blames the vegetables.
'The Jackdaw Who Escaped' – a man ties a thread to a jackdaw and gives it to his son as a pet. The jackdaw cannot tolerate captivity and tries to flee. However, in flight, the thread becomes tangled and gets wrapped around the jackdaw’s throat.
Moral: Those who cannot tolerate moderate dangers risk hurling themselves into greater peril.
There is a point of view here that makes some sense – a little discomfort must sometimes be tolerated. But keep in mind here that the ‘discomfort’ Aesop refers to is… SLAVERY… so maybe I’m not quite on the same page with our grizzled wizard of morals on this one.
TYC: If you are tied to something, untie yourself before doing anything else.
