From Aesop's Fables

The Wolf and the Lamb

Once upon a time a Wolf was lapping at a spring on a hillside,
when, looking up, what should he see but a Lamb just beginning todrink a little lower down. "There's my supper," thought he, "if only I can find some excuse to seize it." Then he called out to the Lamb, "How dare you muddle the water from which I am drinking?"

"Nay, master, nay," said Lambikin; "if the water be muddy up
there, I cannot be the cause of it, for it runs down from you to
me."

"Well, then," said the Wolf, "why did you call me bad names
this time last year?"

"That cannot be," said the Lamb; "I am only six months old."

"I don't care," snarled the Wolf; "if it was not you it was
your father;" and with that he rushed upon the poor little Lamb
and
.WARRA WARRA WARRA WARRA WARRA
.ate her all up. But before she died she gasped out
."Any excuse will serve a tyrant."

The Wolf and the Crane
A Wolf had been gorging on an animal he had killed, whensuddenly a small bone in the meat stuck in his throat and he couldnot swallow it. He soon felt terrible pain in his throat, and ranup and down groaning and groaning and seeking for something torelieve the pain. He tried to induce every one he met to removethe bone. "I would give anything," said he, "if you would take itout." At last the Crane agreed to try, and told the Wolf to lieon his side and open his jaws as wide as he could. Then the Craneput its long neck down the Wolf's throat, and with its beakloosened the bone, till at last it got it out. "Will you kindly give me the reward you promised?" said theCrane. The Wolf grinned and showed his teeth and said: "Be content.You have put your head inside a Wolf's mouth and taken it outagain in safety; that ought to be reward enough for you." Gratitude and greed go not together.

The Wolf and the Kid
A Kid was perched up on the top of a house, and looking downsaw a Wolf passing under him. Immediately he began to revile andattack his enemy. "Murderer and thief," he cried, "what do youhere near honest folks' houses? How dare you make an appearancewhere your vile deeds are known?" "Curse away, my young friend," said the Wolf. "It is easy to be brave from a safe distance."

The Dog and the Wolf
A gaunt Wolf was almost dead with hunger when he happened tomeet a House-dog who was passing by. "Ah, Cousin," said the Dog."I knew how it would be; your irregular life will soon be the ruinof you. Why do you not work steadily as I do, and get your foodregularly given to you?" "I would have no objection," said the Wolf, "if I could onlyget a place." "I will easily arrange that for you," said the Dog; "come withme to my master and you shall share my work." So the Wolf and the Dog went towards the town together. On the way there the Wolf noticed that the hair on a certain part ofthe Dog's neck was very much worn away, so he asked him how thathad come about. "Oh, it is nothing," said the Dog. "That is only the placewhere the collar is put on at night to keep me chained up; itchafes a bit, but one soon gets used to it." "Is that all?" said the Wolf. "Then good-bye to you, MasterDog." Better starve free than be a fat slave.

The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
A Wolf found great difficulty in getting at the sheep owing tothe vigilance of the shepherd and his dogs. But one day it foundthe skin of a sheep that had been flayed and thrown aside, so itput it on over its own pelt and strolled down among the sheep.The Lamb that belonged to the sheep, whose skin the Wolf waswearing, began to follow the Wolf in the Sheep's clothing; so,leading the Lamb a little apart, he soon made a meal off her, andfor some time he succeeded in deceiving the sheep, and enjoyinghearty meals. Appearances are deceptive.

The Shepherd's Boy
There was once a young Shepherd Boy who tended his sheep atthe foot of a mountain near a dark forest. It was rather lonelyfor him all day, so he thought upon a plan by which he could get alittle company and some excitement. He rushed down towards thevillage calling out "Wolf, Wolf," and the villagers came out tomeet him, and some of them stopped with him for a considerabletime. This pleased the boy so much that a few days afterwards hetried the same trick, and again the villagers came to his help.But shortly after this a Wolf actually did come out from theforest, and began to worry the sheep, and the boy of course criedout "Wolf, Wolf," still louder than before. But this time thevillagers, who had been fooled twice before, thought the boy wasagain deceiving them, and nobody stirred to come to his help. Sothe Wolf made a good meal off the boy's flock, and when the boycomplained, the wise man of the village said: "A liar will not be believed, even when he speaks the truth."

The Nurse and the Wolf
"Be quiet now," said an old Nurse to a child sitting on herlap. "If you make that noise again I will throw you to the Wolf." Now it chanced that a Wolf was passing close under the windowas this was said. So he crouched down by the side of the houseand waited. "I am in good luck to-day," thought he. "It is sureto cry soon, and a daintier morsel I haven't had for many a longday." So he waited, and he waited, and he waited, till at lastthe child began to cry, and the Wolf came forward before thewindow, and looked up to the Nurse, wagging his tail. But all theNurse did was to shut down the window and call for help, and thedogs of the house came rushing out. "Ah," said the Wolf as hegalloped away, "Enemies promises were made to be broken."



Saturday, April 26, 2008

A wolf can only be a wolf!

1

This may seem odd to some parents, while others may agree that it was right thing to do. If we choose to ignore the obvious (i.e. speaking to the child about the danger of wild animals would change the dynamics of this story), and assume that this mother is of sound mind and has her child’s best interest and heart, I have two rational explanations as to why this mother warns Little Red Cap to stay on the path, to avoid falling and breaking the bottle.

(i) Very often parents try to shield their children from the harsh realities of life, especially when they are too young to fully comprehend the situation (or so the parent may think).  They are some cases where parents do this because of the fear that they may do more injustice, than justice, by communicating “too much” to the child, and in other cases they (the parents) believe that kids are kids, and should do exactly as they are told, without a reason.  This is usually the case with parents who are raised that way. An example of this is the fear many parents have with speaking to their children (even teenagers) about sex.

(ii)The author may be using this situation in the story to teach a lesson that is bigger than the story itself. The lesson being – if you stay on the right path, you will be able to accomplish any task no matter how difficult it may appear and if you don’t …(you know the story!!).

 

2.

In an odd way, this brings to mind the age-old question, “which comes first, the chicken or the egg?”  Did the original author pen the story with sex and gender on his mind, or was it sincerely written as a fairy tale for children? Was sex and gender symbolism cleverly constructed into this fairy tale, or was this fairy tale manipulated to convey a “new” story?  I honestly believe that you can find symbols of sex and gender in anything you want to. I also believe that, unless the original author said (or documented) that this was his intention, the person with the better argument wins.

I am not going to agree or disagree with their arguments.  Instead I am going to argue that art (fairy tales included) is subject to interpretation, by the person viewing it.  I agree that there may be standards, experts and even accepted beliefs, but what good are they to people ignorant of them? Point in case – if I do not know that the color red represents lust, passion and eroticism, because I never looked deep into the meaning of colors or even because in my culture it represents war, I may look past the apparent evidence of sexual symbolism.

Even when looking at the actions of the characters in this story in particular, in my opinion, each characters action aligns perfectly with what is expected of him/her.  Mothers send kids visits to visit their parents, grandparents are usually older and more susceptible to illness, young kids are often curious and adventurous and wolves are known to be as dangerous as they are cunning.  Any sex or gender here?  Again, it depends on the reader!!

3.

I do not agree that the “wolf” in Aesop’s fables often plays a bystander who interacts with seeming innocents that misbehave.  To agree that this is his role, will be unfair to such a formidable character.  The wolf is the Dennis Rodman of fables; yes, his role paints him as the “bad guy,” but without him, there would be no finger pointing and, even worse, no lessons to learn.  Believe me, the wolf takes one for the team- the team being Aesop and his readers.

Secretly I envy the wolf.  He seldom comes off as the loser even if he is deceived.  Not to mention, while the lamb and the sheep etc. are never resurrected, the wolf always survives to star in the next fable.  Arrogant, sly, self-centered, respected, feared, seemingly intelligent, greedy…this guy is no different from the CEO of Bear Stearns, or even better, Donald Trump.

All considered, I must admit that I, myself, learned a lesson from these fables, which is-nice guys finish last!
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