Leading from the Middle

Caption: Postcard by Stroganova and Alexeev,1969.

“An Ass happened to see a Nightingale, one day, and said to it,
‘Listen, my dear. They say you have a great mastery over song. I have long wished very much to hear you sing, and to judge as to whether your talent is really so great.’
On this the Nightingale began to make manifest its art— whistled in countless ways, sobbed, sustained notes, passed from one song to another; at one time let her voice die away, and echoed the distant murmur of the languishing reed ; at another, poured through the wood a shower of tiny notes. Then all listened to the favorite singer of Aurora. The breezes died away; the feathered choir was hushed; the cattle lay down on the grass. Scarcely breathing, the shepherd reveled in it, and only now and then, as he listened to it, smiled on the shepherdess.
At length the singer ended.
Then the Ass, bending its head towards the ground, observed, ‘It's tolerable. To speak the truth, one can listen to you without being bored. But it's a pity you don't know our Cock. You would sing a great deal better if you were to take a few lessons from him.’
Having heard such a judgment, our poor Nightingale took to its wings and flew far away.”
_____________________
There’s always some one to disparage your finest effort. Mind them not; they are envious Asses and seek – with their criticism – to do just what the Ass accomplished with the Nightingale. She fled to a friendlier realm, we hope.
It is said that Krylov, the revered Russian fabulist of his time, was once asked by a great person (GP) to read to him his fables.
Doing so, the GP remarked “That is very good; but why don’t you do it like Dmitrief does?”
Thusly inspired, Krylov turned the GP into an Ass and wrote the fable you just read. Let’s hope he dedicated it to the GP.
Better to respond Krylov’s way, than to foolishly flee the judgment of an Ass.
There are always a few so envious they are incapable of anything positive. Laugh and leave ‘em to it.

*Source: Krilof and his fables, by Krylov, Ivan Andreevich, 1768-1844; Ralston, William Ralston Shedden, 1828-1889. Tr. London, 1869

N.B. My next book, Fables for Leaders, Ezis Press, comes out in September 2017 as an e-book ($9.99) and a soft cover print-on-demand book, ($25.99). The print book, pictured, will feature original illustrations by the renowned Béatrice Coron.


Cover: "Fables for Leaders" PRE-PRINT, 203pp. 2017.

© Copyright John Lubans 2017

 

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