Mining an Idea

Miners may move a ton of dirt to find one small chunk of gold. So should it be with ideas.-HRM Deborah

Let's Read Eight Fables About Ideas

The Tortoise and the Hare
by Aesop*

The Tortoise and the Hare, illustrated by Milo Winter in a 1919 Aesop anthology

Once upon a time there was a hare who, boasting how he could run faster than anyone else, was forever teasing tortoise for its slowness. Then one day, the irate tortoise answered back: "Who do you think you are? There's no denying you're swift, but even you can be beaten!" The hare squealed with laughter.

"Beaten in a race? By whom? Not you, surely! I bet there's nobody in the world that can win against me, I'm so speedy. Now, why don't you try?"

Annoyed by such bragging, the tortoise accepted the challenge. A course was planned, and the next day at dawn they stood at the starting line. The hare yawned sleepily as the meek tortoise trudged slowly off. When the hare saw how painfully slow his rival was, he decided, half asleep on his feet, to have a quick nap. "Take your time!" he said. "I'll have forty winks and catch up with you in a minute."

The hare woke with a start from a fitful sleep and gazed round, looking for the tortoise. But the creature was only a short distance away, having barely covered a third of the course. Breathing a sigh of relief, the hare decided he might as well have breakfast too, and off he went to munch some cabbages he had noticed in a nearby field. But the heavy meal and the hot sun made his eyelids droop. With a careless glance at the tortoise, now halfway along the course, he decided to have another snooze before flashing past the winning post. And smiling at the thought of the look on the tortoise's face when it saw the hare speed by, he fell fast asleep and was soon snoring happily.

The sun started to sink, below the horizon, and the tortoise, who had been plodding towards the winning post since morning, was scarcely a yard from the finish. At that very point, the hare woke with a jolt. He could see the tortoise a speck in the distance and away he dashed. He leapt and bounded at a great rate, his tongue lolling, and gasping for breath. Just a little more and he'd be first at the finish. But the hare's last leap was just too late, for the tortoise had beaten him to the winning post. Poor hare! Tired and in disgrace, he slumped down beside the tortoise who was silently smiling at him.

"Slowly does it every time!" he said.

The Moral: Slow (Perseverance) and steady (Determination) wins every time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Wind and the Sun
by Aesop

The wind attempts to strip the traveler of his cloak, illustrated by Milo Winter (1919)

A dispute once arose between the Wind and the Sun, which was the stronger of the two, and they agreed to settle the point upon this issue—that whichever of the two soonest made a traveler take off his cloak, should be accounted the more powerful. The Wind began, and blew with all his might and main a blast, cold and fierce as a Thracian storm; but the stronger he blew, the closer the traveler wrapped his cloak around him, and the tighter he grasped it with his hands. Then broke out the Sun. With his welcome beams he dispersed the vapor and the cold; the traveler felt the genial warmth, and as the Sun shone brighter and brighter, he sat down, quite overcome with the heat, and taking off his cloak, cast it on the ground.

The sun strips the traveler of his cloak

Thus the Sun was declared the conqueror; and it has ever been deemed that persuasion is better than force; and that the sunshine of a kind and gentle manner will sooner lay open a poor man's heart than all the threatenings and force of blustering authority.

The Moral: Kindness effects more than severity.

The Bear and the Fox
by Aesop

The Bear and the Fox, illustration from Aesops Fables, published by Heinemann, 1912

A bear was once bragging about his generous feelings and saying how refined he was compared with the other animals. (There is a tradition that a bear will never touch a dead body.) A fox, who heard him talking in this strain, smiled and said, “My friend, when you are hungry, I only wish you would confine your attention to the dead and leave the living alone.”

The moral: A hypocrite deceives no one but himself.

The Bear and the Travelers
by Aesop

Two travelers were on the road together when a bear suddenly appeared on the scene. Before he observed them, one made for a tree at the side of the road and climbed up into the branches and hid there. The other was not so nimble as his companion; and as he could not escape, he threw himself on the ground and pretended to be dead.

The bear came up and sniffed all round him, but he kept perfectly still and held his breath, for they say that a bear will not touch a dead body. The bear took him for a corpse and went away.

When the coast was clear, the traveler in the tree came down and asked the other what it was the bear had whispered to him when he put his mouth to his ear. The other replied, “He told me never again to travel with a friend who deserts you at the first sign of danger.”

The moral: Misfortune tests the sincerity of friendship.

The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs
By Aesop

A man and his wife had the good fortune to posses a goose which laid a golden egg every day.

Lucky though they were, they soon began to think they were not getting rich fast enough and imagining the bird must be made of gold inside, they decided to kill it in order to secure the whole store pf precious mental at once.

But when they cut it open they found it was just like any other goose.

Thus, they neither got rich all at once, as they had hoped, nor enjoyed any longer the daily addition to their wealth.

The Moral: Excessive wants, loses all.

The Shepherd's Boy and the Wolf
by Aesop

Illustration by Milo Winter (1919)

A Shepherd’s boy was tending his flock near a village and thought it would be great fun to hoax the villagers by pretending that a wolf was attacking the sheep; so he shouted out, "Wolf! Wolf!" And when the people came running up he laughed at them for their pains.

He did this more than once and every time the villagers found they had been hoaxed, for there was no wolf at all.

At last a wolf really did come and the boy cried, "Wolf! Wolf!" As loud as he could. But the people were so used to hearing him call that they took no notice of his cries for help.

And so the wolf had it his own way and killed off sheep after sheep at his leisure.

The Moral: You cannot believe a liar even when he tells the truth.

The Wolf and the Shepherd
by Aesop

Illustration by Milo Winter (1919)

A wolf hung about a flock of sheep for a long time, but made no attempt to molest them. The shepherd at first kept a sharp eye on him, for he naturally thought he meant mischief.

But as time went by, he began to look upon him more as a protector than as an enemy and when one day some errand to him to the city, he felt no uneasiness at leaving the wolf with the sheep.

But as soon as his back was turned, the wolf attacked them and killed the greater number.

When the shepherd returned and saw the havoc he had wrought, he cried, “It serves me right for trusting my flock to a wolf.”

The Moral: Never trust an known thief, for once a thief always a thief; as the innocent are ususlly those who pay dearly.

The Wolf and His Shadow
by Aesop

A wolf who was roaming about the plain when the sun was getting low in the sky was much impressed by the size of his shadow and said to himself, “I had no idea I was so big. Fancy me being afraid of a lion! Why, I, not he, ought to be king of the beasts.”

And heedless of danger, he strutted about as if there could be no doubt at all about it.

Just then a lion sprang upon him and began to devour him.

“Alas,” he cried, “had I not lost sight of the facts, I shouldn’t have been ruined by my fancies.”

The Moral: Pride begets the fall.

*Aesop was a Greek slave from Thrace (Modern Bulgaria) of Arab ancestry and a story-teller who lived in Ancient Greece (Athens) between 620 and 560 BC.; most known all over the world for his many moral fables.

Gone Green

The Squirrels and the Acorn Tree

A very old crow set in an acorn tree watching in amazement at several squirrels running about for acorns on the grass below.

The squirrels never noticed up in the tree where the old crow was relaxed perched upon a limb; where ripe acorns in abundance row upon row, more than enough to last a hard winter. -HRM Deborah

The Choice

A slave was standing in the Roman Coliseum and was given two choices by the emperor, of two doors.

One door if opened had a hungry lion that would devour the slave.

But behind the other door was a beautiful maiden that could not only be the slaves wife, but would assure his freedom.

But one catch, the slave did not know which door was which.

Nevertheless, what door does one think was chosen?

[Author unknown, thought by many to be originally contributed to Aesop and has been told to many a child. (There is an old saying among Roman slaves that one could always hope for true freedom, but even in death they would be free. For most slaves, death was there only freedom! Events, such as the suicides at Masada occurred; instead of facing Roman captivity or death at Roman hands, when the wall finally became breached after about two years.)]