Week 2: Reading Diary -- Aesop Fables (Winter)

Aesop Fables (Winter)


Page 1
I actually liked both the stories on page 1. I thought The Wolf and the Kid was interesting because, even though the Kid got himself into trouble in the first place, he used his resourcefulness (or was it dumb luck?) to get out of his situation. As for The Tortoise and the Ducks, it shows that vanity comes with a price, as well as the fact that you must be aware of your surroundings. I also thought the backstory to the Tortoise's shell was interesting.


Page 2
I liked the The Dog, the Cock, and the Fox, because it showed that you should always be wary and if someone tries to trick you, watch out for and counter it. I thought The Eagle and the Jackdaw was funny, as the Jackdaw tries to copy the eagle and fails. It shows that one should never overestimate their abilities.


Page 3
The Oxen and the Wheels was a fable I'd never heard of before. But it's surprisingly true. You often see that people who are hardworking don't complain, while people who aren't complain over the littlest things. It's probably because they just want attention. The second fable that caught my eye was The Gnat and the Bull story. It's basic human nature to overestimate your own importance in someone's life.


Page 4
The one story I liked on this page was the Lion and the Ass. Even though the Lion could have gotten angry, he decides he's above the Ass's heckling. I think that takes lots of discipline to have that type of mindset.


Page 5
In the first story, The Owl and the Grasshopper, the Owl is smart. She both gets a snack and gets rid of the annoyance when the Grasshopper, taken in by flattery, decides to trust the Owl. In The Wolf and His Shadow, it's easy for the Wolf to give into his fantasies, which leads to his downfall. Another story about how vanity shouldn't overtake good judgment.


Page 6
As I read this the Ass and the Image, I knew what the Ass was going to think as he walked up the procession with the image on his back. It's pretty easy to believe (especially when we are prideful) that we instill awe in others. Another story I liked was The Two Goats. It shows how much pride can get in the way of common sense. The Lion and the Gnat interested me as well because of the twist in the story. After defeating the Lion with his bites, the Gnat eventually fell prey to a spider's web. I thought that The Leap at Rhodes had a good moral, being that if you have a skill, you have to show it rather than brag.


Page 9
The story I particularly liked was The Wolf and the Ass. The Ass was pretty clever to come up with such a plan that drew on the "logic" of the Wolf. If the Wolf had just eaten the Ass without worrying, it would have been smarter on his part.


Page 10
The Cat and the Monkey is another story about vanity. People will do things easily for someone else just to show off or satisfy their own ego at the expense of common sense. The Dogs and the Hides involved dogs with a really bad plan to eat animal skins. They thought they could drink up the entire river to get to the skins, and they found out the hard way not to try for unachievable goals.


Page 11
The one story I really liked here was The Fox and the Leopard, mostly because the moral was that beauty is within. The Leopard may, as the Fox readily admits, be more beautiful, but the Fox has a smarter head on his shoulders.


Page 12
The Cat, the Cock, and the Young Mouse was a good example of how appearances can deceive; even if someone looks nice, doesn't mean they are. Another story about deceptive appearances was The Wolf and the Shepherd. Even though the Wolf didn't look like it mean any harm after being with the Shepherd for a while, the Shepherd still shouldn't have become complacent. The Crane and the Peacock is about utility; even though the wings of the Peacock are much more beautiful, the Crane still wins with its useful wings.


Page 14
I've read Mercury and the Woodsman as The Golden Axe when I was a child, and I like the message (if a little naive, in my opinion) that honesty will get you everywhere. The story of The Frog and the Mouse showed the Frog that Karmic law was going to get him in the end.


Page 15
In The Serpent and the Eagle, the Eagle saves the Man after the Man saves the Eagle. It's a story about repaying kindness, but technically the Man wouldn't have been in danger if he hadn't saved the Eagle. I thought the story of The Beetle and the Eagle was interesting. It shows that the strong sometimes have no respect for the weaker, and make enemies out of those who have cunning and revenge-bent minds.


Page 16
The Bat was clever in the story The Bat and the Weasel. He runs across two Weasels and each mistakes him for a Cat or a Mouse. Because of his ambiguous appearance, he works with the situation and escapes being eaten. I laughed when I read The Butterfly and the Rose, because it's true that you can't honestly complain about someone having a certain quality you have yourself.


Page 17
In The Eagle and the Kite, I thought that the moral given at the end -- that 'all's fair in love' -- was kind of funny but bad. The Kite lies in order to win the Eagle's love -- shouldn't there be a moral of how you can't have a relationship based on lies? When I read another story, The Animals and the Plague, I thought the moral rang true. When all the big animals are going on about their sins, they are forgiven, but when the Ass says his one, tiny sin, it gets the entire kingdom to sacrifice him to the gods to get rid of the plague. It's often times that the weaker get the brunt of the punishment or blame.


Page 19
In the Ass and His Shadow, it's ironic that the Owner and the Traveler get into a disagreement about the shade (the shadow of the Ass) and the Ass (and the shade) runs away. The Traveler and the Owner got so caught up in the small things they failed to see the bigger picture. In the Wolf, the Kid, and the Goat, it's good that the Kid took a second precaution rather than just letting the Wolf in, who happened to guess the password correctly. Otherwise the Kid would have been eaten.


Page 20
In the Wolves and the Sheep, the pack of wolves was smart in trying to eat the sheep. Rather than going on the offensive, they pretended to want to befriend the sheep. The sheep, being not so bright, decided to send the dogs, who were protecting them, away. It shows that you shouldn't be so quick to get new friends at the expense of old ones. In the Fighting Cocks and the Eagle, I thought it was ironic that the Cock who had beaten the other Cock in the fight won the battle but lost the war, since he was eaten by the Eagle after bragging and celebrating. It's another story about the dangers of pride.