A few Aesop Fables
Read also with contemporary eyes
As part of a course of populism, our professor shared some aesop fables. I am sharing a few of them. They are all freely available online. Make any conclusion for yourself.
Fable 66 — The Frogs Desiring a King
The frogs, annoyed with the anarchy in which they lived, sent a deputation to Zeus to ask him to give them a king. Zeus, seeing that they were but very simple creatures, threw a piece of wood into their marsh. The frogs were so alarmed by the sudden noise that they plunged into the depths of the bog. But when the piece of wood did not move, they cambered out again. They developed such contempt for this new king that they jumped on his back and crouched there. The frogs were deeply ashamed at having such a king, so they sent a second deputation to Zeus asking him to change their monarch. For the first was too passive and did nothing. Zeus now became impatient with them and sent down a hydra which seized them and ate them all up.
This fable teaches us that it is better to be ruled by passive, worthless men who bear no spitefulness than by productive but wicked ones.
Fable 156 — The Kithara-player
A kithara-player, devoid of talent, sang from morning to night in a house with thickly plastered walls. As the walls echoed with his own sounds he imagined that he had a very beautiful voice. He so overestimated his own voice from then on that he decided to perform in a theatre. But he sang so badly on the stage that he was driven off it by people throwing stones.
Thus, certain orators who, at school, seem to have some talent, reveal their incompetence as soon as they enter the political arena.
Fable 216 — The Dogs reconciled with the Wolves
The wolves said to the dogs: ‘Why, when you are so like us in all respects, don’t we come to some brotherly understanding? For there is no difference between us except our ways of thinking. We live in freedom; you submit and are enslaved by man and endure his blows. You wear collars and you watch over their flocks, and when your masters eat, all they throw to you are some bones. But take our word for it, if you hand over the flocks to us we can all club together and gorge our appetites jointly.’ The dogs were sympathetic to this proposal, so the wolves, making their way inside the sheepfold, tore the dogs to pieces.
Such is the reward that traitors who betray their fatherland deserve.
Fable 229 — The Wolf and the Shepherd
A wolf followed a flock of sheep without doing them any harm. At first the shepherd was fearful of it as an enemy and watched it nervously. But, as the wolf kept on following without making any attempt to harm them, he began to look upon it as more of a guardian than an enemy to be wary of. As he needed to go into town one day, he left the sheep with the wolf in attendance. The wolf, seeing his opportunity, hurled himself at the sheep and tore most of them to pieces. When the shepherd returned and saw
the lost sheep he cried out: ‘It serves me right. How could I have entrusted my sheep to a wolf?’
It is the same with men: when you entrust valuables to greedy people it is natural that you will lose things.
