Reading Diary A: Aesop's Fables (Jacobs)

Here were my favorite stories from Aesop's Fables (Jacobs):

Lions, Part 1: One story I really liked was The Lion and the Statue. In the story, a man attempts to prove to a lion that humans are stronger by showing him a statue of Hercules defeating a lion, but the lion replies that if the statue was made by a lion then the victor would be the lion. The moral of the story is, "We can easily represent things as we wish them to be." I like this story because I recognize an element of psychology (my major) in it. There have been many studies about how we perceive things so that they are favorable to us or how we expect/want them to be. In the picture below, you can see Crane's illustration for the story as well as read the limerick version of the story.

The Lion and the Statue illustrated by Walter Crane

Lions, Part 2: Another story I enjoyed was The Lion in Love. One of the reasons is a bit of a comical connection to The Lion and the Statue: the strength of men boasted of by the man (intelligence) actually does allow some humans to overpower a lion. I also like the moral because it is so true: love can tame the wildest. Although it was sad, I also liked the bit of realism of the love story not working out. Love makes us vulnerable, especially the "wild ones" who must be tamed by love, and sometimes this vulnerability allows us to get hurt when feelings are unrequited or a relationship just doesn't work out. I could easily see myself rewriting this story with a person metaphorically taming themselves for love and ultimately being rejected.

Foxes, Part 1: The Fox and the Mask was another story I liked because of its moral (Outside show is a poor substitute for inner worth). It's very relevant today because our society can be overly concerned about appearances, but a pretty face or nice house or nice clothes do not mean necessarily that someone is a good person "on the inside." They may be vain, greedy, ignorant, shallow, or just plain unpleasant, but you can't tell just by looking at them. I could also imagine rewriting this story so that a person makes an initial judgment about someone or something but soon finds out that sometimes outward appearance masks a lack of inner worth or quality.

Wolves: The Dog and the Wolf.What I liked about this story was that it made me think critically and ask questions. The moral of this story is, "Better starve free than to be a fat slave." This made me think of the price we pay or the sacrifices we make for freedom and luxury. People will lay down their lives to fight wars for freedom or the ability to govern themselves, like during the American Revolution. After the colonies were free from British rule, they were also without the protection of the British Empire. In the same way, we usually must pay a price for luxury. For the dog, this means giving up his freedom; for us, it could mean giving up time with our families to earn money.

Mice: The last story is one that most people know--The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse. It is similar to The Dog and the Wolf in its message; its moral explains, "Better beans and bacon in peace than cakes and ale in fear." Again, we see the theme of giving up something (in this case, safety) in order to enjoy some kind of luxury (in this case, high quality food). I could potentially do a rewriting of both stories, with the main character encountering two people: one who gives up freedom for food and another who lives dangerously in order to eat quality food. The main character would rather be free and eat less-than-great food than to have a master or fear for his life.