I've always loved the saying that the tortoise carries his house on his back. But it has never occurred to me that not being able to see the world would make him feel sad and disconnected. I think this is a very easy thing to relate to as a human. We typically carry all of our worries and responsibilities around on our shoulders, and they often keep us from seeing the more important things in life.
I've heard the story of The Boy and the Filberts told before but it was a monkey who was trying to get seeds out of a coconut shell and got his hand stuck. Funny that little boys and monkeys would have so much in common.
It seems like complaining is often rewarded in our society: the squeaky wheel gets the grease. So its nice to see that in the story of the Oxen and the Wheels, the Oxen told the Wheels off for being so whiny. It's very draining to listen to someone complain all the time.
The Lion and the Ass seems to have a very biblical message. Don't respond to scorn with scorn, but rise above and turn the other cheek.
It's a shame that The Two Goats couldn't have just taken turns to cross the river. I've never understood people being so stubborn and prideful because it's usually much easier to work together.
It's interesting to me how many of these stories feature lions, wolves, donkeys, and foxes. I wonder where the great liking of these animals came from...
(Image information: "The Monkey and The Camel" by Milo Winter in 1919.)
The story of The Weasels and The Mice reminds of the children's book series Redwall by Brian Jacques. Those books had mice battles in them too.
I can identify with the Money in the Monkey and the Dolphin story. Often times, a group of people will be discussing a musical group I've never heard of, and I'll say, "Oh, yeah, I love them too." Of course, that's when the group says he's a signer not a group. It's natural to want to blend in to the conversation.
At the end of The Farmer and The Cranes story, one of the morals is that bluff is no proof that hard fist are lacking. I don't quite understand that because usually, when people give empty threats, it's because they don't really want to do anything to you. I haven't really experienced an empty threat that eventually led to the outcome threatened.
The moral of The Goatherd and The Goats is a really important one. If you always give the best to your new friends and the worst to your old friends, you won't have any friends at all.
The story of Mercury and The Woodman would be a fun one to reinvent for my storytelling assignment.
I don't understand why the Frog wanted to drown the Mouse in the story of The Frog and The Mouse. They're not predators and the Mouse hadn't done anything to the frog. Maybe the Frog had a rough childhood.
The story of The Cat and The Old Rat reminds me of Tom and Jerry in the way that the cat came up with clever tricks to catch the mouse.
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