We Need to Talk about Fables
In the West fables are believed to be a European tradition, with La Fontaine and Aesop leaders in the field. Indeed they were great masters of the form, except that Aesop who lived centuries BC seemed to have been an Ethiopian slave (Aesop = Ethiop)
However, at around the same time as Aesop was causing anger among the
bourgeois of Greece with his timely barbs and witty illustrations of their foibles, the Buddhists in Hindustan were composing their own texts, like the Titha Sutta with its numerous didactory tales. The best-known of these is the story of the six blind men taken to “see” an elephant. There have been thousands of variations on that theme, including inevitably one from Albert Einstein. Here is the original one from the Sutta.
Some blind men heard about a strange animal called the elephant roaming the village, and wanted to investigate. We know we can’t see it, but we have well-developed sense of touch, and that might give us an idea. So off they went, and when they found the beast, each one groped the part nearest to him. One grabbed the trunk and stroked it up and down, and pronounced the animal snake-like. Another touched an ear, and after serious consideration suggested that the animal was like a living fan. After encountering a leg one blind man said that the elephant was like a tree. Another proposed a wall, one identified it as a rope, and finally, the one who found the tusk thought that he was smooth and like a spear. A long argument ensued resulting in blows being exchanged.
The purpose of the story was to illustrate that different people have different perspectives.
One of Aesop’s best known fable is the Lion and the Mouse: A lion caught a little mouse and was going to make a (small) mouthful of it, but the little rodent pleaded for its life. Sire, he said, a mighty lion like you should feast on venison or fillet steak, I am only a paltry mouse, please let me live. The lion took less than ten seconds to see his point of view, and agreed to let him go. A little while later, the mouse heard a roar of distress, and out of curiosity went to have a look and saw that the lion had been caught in a trap. I can save you, the little mouse said, remembering that the lion had saved his life. How can a paltry little thing like you save me? he asked. Watch me. And the mouse gnawed through the stringed net making an opening and the lion was able to escape.
The moral of the story is that we often need someone smaller in life. Or, as the French say: On a toujours besoin de petits pois chez soi.*
The Italian poet Laurentius Abstemius wrote a sequel:
Lion was so grateful that he said to Mouse, ask me for anything and it is yours. Mouse thought that if he married a Lion Princess he might become king of the jungle one day, and asked for his daughter’s hand. Lion was taken aback, but, I only have one word, he said, and agreed to the marriage. However, on the wedding night, the bride did not see the little mouse as she came in the bridal chamber, and trod upon him, and he is dead before he knows it.
Kalila wa Dimna were illustrators who collected known fables and illustrated them. The most famous is the story of how the Rabbit tricked the Elephant into believing the Moon God lived in the lake. The story is ancient and has it roots in old Indic tales which were brought over to Persia and then translated into Arabic in the eighth century and ninth century by an Abbasid courtier and philosopher named Ibn al-Muqaffa. This particular story celebrates the victory of mind over matter, and wit over strength. The old story is as follows and was then readapted in the Kalila wa Dimna:
Once upon a time, there lived a herd of Elephants in a forest led by their mighty king. The elephants’ home was by a big lake in the middle of a forest. All the forest animals used to go to drink water and to take a bath at this lake. But overtime, the lake dried up. The elephants decided to relocate and found a new home near a large lake in a far-away jungle.
The King of the Elephants told all his subjects to go towards the lake. However, there was a colony of rabbits already living at the lake and to make their way there, the big beasts would have to cross the rabbit colony.
They made their way paying no attention to the homes of the rabbits under their feet when they marched towards the lake. The king of the rabbits called a meeting to devise a plan to stop the elephants’ advance.
Firouz, a poor Rabbit’ daughter came up with a plan. She took the king’s permission and advanced to the lake to meet the king of the elephants head on. It was hard to get his attention because the king was proud and haughty, so he climbed on a hill and shouted out to him. When she got his attention, she told the King that she and her colony of rabbits knew they could never stop the more powerful elephants. Then get lost shouted the king.
It was a full moon and the reflection of the moon was shining bright over the water. Firouz told the king to look at the moon in the lake. He is the Moon God and is more powerful than all the elephants in the whole world, and warned him that if they disturbed the surface of the water the Moon God would become furious and would inflict heavy retribution. The Elephant King was very frightened and decided to find another place to settle. As a result, because of Firouz’s wit, the colony and homes of the rabbits are saved.
Ibn al Muqaffa added that when one faces a more powerful opponent, one should have recourse to one’s wit.
* a proper translation of the moral is: on a toujours besoin de plus petit que soi.
