Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Inspirational Stories #114 - Aesop's tales # 1 - A Council of Mice

As promised, the subsequent posts will have a collection of tales from the Greek story teller, Aesop. Aesop was a slave in ancient Greece. Not much is known about his life. Most of the characters in his stories are animals, and Aesop uses the natural tendencies of animals to focus on human traits and wisdom. Each story has a moral to be learned from it.

Here is the first one.


The mice, frustrated by the constant dangers of the cat, meet in council to determine a solution to their tiring challenge. They discussed, and equally rejected, plan after plan. Eventually, a very young mouse raised up on his hind legs, and proposed that a bell should be hung around the cat's neck.

"What a splendid idea!" they cried.
"Excellent suggestion!"
"Oh yes, that would very well warn of the cat's presence in time to escape!"

They were accepting the proposal with great enthusiasm and applause, until a quiet old mouse stood up to speak.

"This is, indeed, a very good suggestion, and would no doubt solve our problems, he said. "Now, which one of us will put the bell around the cat's neck?"


Moral: It is one thing to propose. It is something else to carry it out.

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