We are in a serious mess in this country. Almost citizens all are in agreement with this postulation – except governments at all levels, and their hangers on. Inna lilLahi wa inna ilaiHi raji’un! At times like these, we are comforted by resort to higher calling; especially faith and philosophy.
This week, therefore, we shall sit at the feet of one of history’s greatest teachers, Aesop, and take lessons from his fables. Much has been written about Aesop, some of it that he was a Black African, and that he may have been Luqman, that wise man (al hakim) whom Allah (exalted be His Name) told us of in the Holy Qur’an. Be he who he might have been, Aesop was wise (perhaps much wiser than your Mullah Nasruddin, who came several centuries later.)
According to most Western accounts, Aesop lived from about 620 to 564 BC, and was a Greek writer and philosopher credited with a number of popular fables. Numerous tales credited to him were gathered across the centuries. In many of the tales, animals speak and have human characteristics. Remarkably, in Aesop’s Fables (though more than 2,500 years old) one can glean striking analogy with our everyday lives and, as Nigerians, with our socio-economic, and especially political, existence. PLEASE READ MEANINGS INTO EACH SUBMISSION.
THE BLAME GAME: According to an ancient legend, every person is born into the world with two invisible bags suspended from his neck: a bag in front full of his neighbours’ faults, and a large bag behind filled with his own faults. Hence it is that people are quick to see the faults of others, and yet are often blind to their own failings.
LIES BEAR NO FRUIT: A man returned to his hometown after travelling to many foreign lands, and boasted about the many wonderful and heroic feats he had performed during his trip. Among other things, he said that when he was at Rhodes he had leaped to such a distance that no man of his day could leap anywhere near that. And he added that there were many people in Rhodes who saw him do it and whom he could call as witnesses. One of the bystanders interrupted him, saying, “Now, my good man, if this be all true there is no need of witnesses. Suppose this to be Rhodes, and leap for us.”
WHEN YOU RUN FOR LIFE: A hound started a hare from his lair, but after a long run, gave up the chase. A goatherd, seeing the hound stop, mocked him, saying, “The little one is the best runner of the two.” The hound replied, “You do not see the difference between us: I was only running for a dinner, but he for his life.”
LADY LUCK: A traveller, wearied from a long journey, lay down, overcome with fatigue, on the very brink of a deep well. Just as he was about to fall into the water, Lady Luck appeared to him and, waking him from his slumber said, “Good Sir, pray wake up—for if you fall into the well, the blame will be thrown on me, and I shall get an ill name among mortals; for I find that people are sure to impute their calamities to me, however much by their own folly they have really brought them on themselves.”
ONE’S OWN MEDICINE: A fortune-teller, sitting in the marketplace, was telling the fortunes of the passers-by, when a person ran up in great haste and announced to him that the doors of his house had been broken open and that all his goods were being stolen. He sighed heavily and hastened away as fast as he could run. A neighbour saw him running and said, “Oh! You fellow there! You say you can foretell the fortunes of others; how is it you did not foresee your own?”
BLOWING HOT AND COLD: A man and a satyr (half man, half goat) once formed a bond of alliance between them. One very cold wintry day, as they talked, the man put his fingers to his mouth and blew on them. When the satyr asked the reason for this, the man told him that he did it to warm his hands because they were so cold. Later on in the day they sat down to eat, and the food prepared was quite scalding. The man raised one of the dishes a little towards his mouth and blew in it. When the satyr again inquired the reason, he said that he did it to cool the food, which was too hot. “I can no longer consider you a friend,” said the satyr, “a fellow who with the same breath blows hot and cold.”
LOOK BEFORE YOU STEAL: A dog, used to eating eggs, saw an oyster and, supposing it to be an egg, opened his mouth to its widest extent and swallowed it down with the utmost relish. Soon afterwards suffering great pain in his stomach, he said, “I deserve all this torment, for my folly in thinking that everything round must be an egg.”
SAVE FIRST, THEN SCOLD: One day, a boy swimming in a river got caught in a current and was in danger. He spotted a man nearby and shouted out for help. The man said, “You should have never gone in that water! This is not the proper behaviour for children; just wait till I tell your parents, and…” The boy interrupted him and said, “Sir, please help me now, and you can scold me afterwards for as long as you want!”
LIFE’S SOUR GRAPES: After spotting some delicious looking grapes up on a vine caught by a tree branch, a hungry fox eagerly began jumping in an attempt to get them down. After many unsuccessful tries, he turned around and walked away, saying to himself, “Well, they probably weren’t ripe anyway.”
A DONKEY’S WISDOM: A shepherd heard his enemies approaching. He ran over to his donkey and exclaimed, “Quick, donkey, we must go now or else we are sure to be captured!” The donkey replied, “Do you think that if your enemies conquer me, they will put double the load that you put on my back every day?” “No,” the shepherd answered. “Well then,” the donkey continued, “as long as I will be carrying the same load, what difference does it make to me whose loads I am carrying?”
FIRST THINGS LAST: The mice met together one day to discuss how they could deal with the always-dangerous cat that lurked around the house. After many mice presented plans that the others rejected, one mouse suggested, “Let’s hang a bell around the cat’s neck—that way, we will always know where it is, and be sure to avoid it.” “A brilliant idea!” remarked one mouse. “We’re saved!” added another. The mice praised his suggestion with enthusiasm, and were all elated to know that their cat problem was solved. One of them, however, remarked, “’Tis a fine suggestion. But you are all overlooking one thing—who is going to put the bell on the cat!”
Yes, and so it is, who is going to put the bell on this our rampaging Nigerian cat?
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