Week 3 Essay: Repeating Morals and Motifs in Aesop's Fables

There were many different things that recurred in the series of Aesop's (Winter) Fables that I read this week. There were repeating animal characters like donkeys, lions, wolves, and foxes. There were morals of the stories that overlapped and expanded on each other. The most popular morals were ones that warned against dishonesty and being prideful. And there were plot elements like trickery and betrayal that kept cropping up. I think these things were repeated because the author thought they were the most important and the most useful at conveying his message.

The wolf appeared in stories like The Wolf and the Kid, The Wolf and His Shadow, and The Wolf and The Lion. In the first one, the kid tricked the lion into not eating him, which highlights a recurring motif characters cheating each other. With that, the moral was "don't let anything turn you from your purpose" because if the wolf had stayed on task he would have won his prize. In the second story, the wolf sees his huge shadow on the ground and thinks he is much more fierce than in reality. The moral in the story was not to "let your fancies make you forget your realities." Here the repeating theme is animals getting a big head. In the last story, the wolf steals a lamb, but then the lion steals it from the wolf. The moral of the story was that what has been won through evil will be lost because of evil. I see this story's theme as being a combination of trickery and pigheadedness.

The fox played roles in stories The Dog, The Cock, and The Fox and The Fox and The Leopard. In the former, the dog and the cock were best friends, and when the fox tried to trick the cock into being eaten, the cock tricked the fox into being chased by the dog. The moral of the story was those who "try to deceive may expect to be paid their own coin," and the repeat motif was that both the fox and the cock tried to scam each other. In the later, the leopard thought himself to be both attractive and intelligent, but the fox clues him in to his foolishness. The moral was that "a fine coat is not always an indication of an attractive mind."

(Image information: "The Fox and The Leopard" by Milo Winter 1919.)

The donkey showed up in The Ass and His Driver, The Lion and The Ass, and The Ass and The Image. The morals of his stories tended to all related to motifs of stubbornness, foolishness, and deceit. In the story about the driver, the ass was taught a lesson about the downfalls of determination when his driver let him walk off the cliff edge. The moral was that those who are stubborn and don't listen are on the road to misfortune. In the story with the lion, the lion is given regal treatment, and because the ass is jealous, he scorns the lion.The moral was "do not resent the remarks of a fool" because they don't know what they are talking about. Similarly, in the story about the image, the ass is again jealous of the treatment paid to the image and tries to take the admiration for himself. The moral was not to take credit for someone else's actions.

The lion played in The Lion and The Ass and The Lion and the Gnat. In the story with the gnat, the gnat kept stinging and annoying the lion and making the lion scratch himself. The moral was not "to let pride throw you off guard." I think this is very similar to the moral in The Wolf and His Shadow.

The culmination of this comparison is The Ass, The Fox, and The Lion because so many of these repeat characters make appearances. The fox and the ass are best friends and the fox tries to sacrifice the ass to the lion to save himself, much like in the story about the dog, the cock, and the fox. While the moral of this story is that "traitors may expect treachery," I also see a theme of trickery here.

Storytelling for Week 3: The Honest Oxen

On a dusty road, a team of oxen pulled a cart full of corn to the marketplace to sell. The oxen were as red as Oklahoma dirt with a few white splotches. They had strong horns that curled up high into the air. They were built to be working animals, and they wore a yoke over their necks that connected them to the cart of corn.

The oxen's sole job was to pull the cart for their master. So when the yoke suddenly broke one day, the oxen began to cry out for help.

"If we cannot work, we won't be fed," Mr. Ox said.

"Without our yoke, we're useless!" his wife lamented.

(Image information: "Young Oxen" from Wikimedia Commons.)

Because they couldn't pull the cart any further, they stopped in their tracks and worried. They were very concerned about where their next meal was going to come from.

Just then, Mercury, the messenger god, descended from the skies on his winged sandals. He wore a yellow tunic and a winged helmet. He produced a golden yoke from thin air, and in an attempt to comfort the worried oxen, he presented it to them.

"This must be the yoke that you have lost!" Mercury said triumphantly.

The couple of oxen sadly shook their heads.

"No," Mr. Ox said, "our yoke certainly wasn't made of gold."

Mercury's eyebrows crinkled in confusion. He had never met such an honest creature before.

Next he showed them a silver yoke.

"I see that I was mistaken before," Mercury said. "But surely, this is the yoke you have been missing."

Again, the married oxen shook their heads in disappointment.

"No," Mrs. Ox said, "our yoke also wasn't made of silver."

Mercury bit the inside of his cheek in contemplation. Why were these oxen so trustworthy?

Finally, he held out the actual yoke that belonged to the couple. Mercury had repaired it.

"That's our yoke!" Mrs. Ox cried.

She hopped forward happily.

Mercury helped the pair of oxen put their yoke back on.

"Thank you so much for repairing our dear old yoke," Mr. Ox said.

"It was my pleasure, Mrs. and Mr. Ox. And I must say that I've never met such an honest couple in my life! I expect most creatures would have claimed the golden or silver yoke."

"Oh no," Mr. Ox said, "we have no use of a fancy yoke. We just need one that helps us do our work."

With that, the oxen couple happily continued on their way to the marketplace with their cart of corn.

For many months after that when people heard the story, they purposefully lost an item in hopes of tricking Mercury into giving them something better. But Mercury was never fooled, and instead, he taught those dishonest folks a lesson.

Author's Note: This story was inspired by Mercury and The Woodman from The Aesop for Children with illustrations by Milo Winter (1919). In the original, a woodman loses his ax, and when Mercury tries to give him a golden one, the woodman explains that's not his. This goes on until the woodman has his original ax back, and Mercury gives him the gold and silver ones as gifts for being honest. I chose to make the main characters animals because I read so many fables about animals this week. I liked how honest the woodman was, and I wanted to retain that quality of the story.

Week 3 Reading Diary: Aesop (Winter) Unit

For this week, I chose to read the Aesop (Winter) unit.

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.