fables

The Toad and the Firefly.

A fat toad wallowed in mud one crisp summer night when it noticed the glow of a firefly flitting overhead. Like a bolt of lightning the toad's sticky tongue leapt from its mouth to ensnare the glowing fly.

But before the toad could make its meal, the firefly cried out, “Wait oh winsome toad, master of life and death! If you spare my life, I will grant you a wish, so long as your wish is in principle possible.”

The toad guffawed, “I will not fall for such clumsy a ruse! You ought instead to have told me you were poisonous. With your current story, even if you were telling the truth I would only hunt you night after night, looking for wishes granted. But you can grant one wish... I wish for a fine supper.”

And with that the firefly was gobbled up.

The snail and the forest.

For several years a snail had been making its way along a forest path. Other animals came and went along the same path, always asking the snail “Ho snail, where are you headed?”

The snail, thinking itself clever, would always answer “As the path only goes one way, this way.” The animal might then laugh before continuing along down the path.

One day, the snail encountered a fork in the path. Uncertain of what to do, it wondered aloud “Just how big is this forest? Will I ever be out of it? Which way should I go?”

An owl napping nearby overheard the snail and responded: “As long as you have come along the path, one choice will take just as long out and will end at the city market, the other will take twice as long and end at the waterfall that is a temple to the gods. Now hush up, for I mean to sleep.”

Pondering for a moment, the snail commented “I shall die long before I reach either destination” and it left the path, entering into the thick forest.

The hawk the river and the wind

A hawk flew over a desert when a great wind began to blow. So fierce were the gusts, that the hawk was forced to dive lower. Spying a river bending through the buttes, the hawk landed at its bank. Now quite parched by the scorching desert winds, the hawk took a drink and spoke:

“Thank you river, for being just where I needed you to be – you are most generous. Flying against that dreadful wind gave me a great thirst.”

“Save your thanks,” replied the river, “for it is my duty to flow where the land most slopes, and I have no choice in the matter. The wind, on the other hand, sometimes blows and other times does not – you should offer instead your thanks to it, for it could have blown much more fiercely. And besides, without its bluster, you would never have landed to drink my waters.”

The salesman and the dirt farmer.

A fox, who had taken to selling farm tools, approached the farm of a badger where he thought to make a sale.

Confident, the fox knocked, the badger answered, and the fox began a sales pitch:

“I see you are still using an old wrought iron plow, do you find that it corrodes quickly and needs frequent replacement?”

The badger agreed, saying “that it does, this one is nearly due for replacement.”

“Well,” continued the fox, “it just so happens that I am selling a superior plow that never dulls or corrodes.”

“Interesting,” said the badger, “ how is it made?”

The fox, prepared for this question, continued his spiel “It is made from the highest quality ores mined in distant lands. These ores are alloyed by the world's most skilled metalworkers into a material both hard and sharp and resistant to corrosion. You can't find a better plow anywhere.”

Upon hearing these words the badger said “Forget it, if the plow ever broke I could never repair it.”

“That's the beauty,” rebutted the fox, “this plow is guaranteed to last for generations!”

“That is even worse, ” concluded the badger, “by the time it breaks, no one will be left who remembers how to make my simple iron plow.”

The price of convenience is often dependence.

The Mirror and the Painter

A struggling painter stood before a mirror and cried, “It is not fair! No amount of cleverness with a brush could ever result in works so flawless as the images that you so effortlessly reflect.”

On hearing the painter's complaint, the mirror could stay silent no more, and spoke thus: “Quit your whining! Whereas my fate is to reflect with absolute fidelity whatsoever of the world appears before me, your heart may choose what you depict. And although my images are indeed without flaw, they may only show what is already there. Your flaws and lacks, on the other hand, are like seeds planted in the soil of your heart, seeds whose growth is the growth of the world itself. Want proof? Hold your labor's fruits up to my glass and I must reflect them as perfectly as anything else.”

The river and the fountain.

One sunny day, the fountain in the market square caught the attention of the river as it flowed down the nearby canal.

“Where is your self respect?” said the river. “Whereas I span continents, sculpting the very land and driving life for unnumbered flora, fauna, and peoples, you are little more than a bauble, a diversion for the indolent, and a toilet for the indigent.”

“I cannot deny it” spoke the fountain in reply.

Aghast, the river continued “Do you have no shame? You do nothing except spray your pitiful droplets briefly into the air, before they are again reclaimed into your basin, having accomplished nothing. I move oceans.”

“This too is true” agreed the fountain. “As for shame and self respect, I do not require these palliatives. The spray of my 'pitiful droplets' is my only joy and needs no trophy. While you bend and yield to every slope of the land, and do so to great advantage, I resist the pull of the earth, even for just a moment.”

The animals and the race.

A race was held on a dry patch of desert, and many animals arrived as entrants. The swift desert fox, the cunning lizard, the miraculous hawk, were favorites for the win. But even the beetle and the tortoise did not count themselves out. The race was run and this time the cunning lizard took first prize, the hawk second, and the desert fox third.

All the animals in attendance celebrated the skill of the three champions, who remarked among themselves “What fun! We must hold another race! Let us choose a new patch of desert yonder.”

The salmon, who had been watching all from the river, remarked “but you'll never choose for your next track the rushing waters of my home. I don't think I'll even attend the next event.”