Leading from the Middle

“A KITE, sick unto death, said to his mother: ‘O Mother! do not mourn, but at once invoke the gods that my life may be prolonged.’ She replied, ‘Alas! my son, which of the gods do you think will pity you? Is there one whom you have not outraged by filching from their very altars a part of the sacrifice offered up to them?’”

“We must make friends in prosperity if we would have their help in adversity.”

The moralist appears to misconstrue the fable’s meaning. Well, at least his take is not like mine. Even Aesop may have missed a beat here; the son’s comeback ought to be, “But, mother, you taught me!”
Well, that’s the nice thing about fables; there are as many interpretations as there are readers. I am reminded of my own situation as others are reminded of theirs.
For me, this fable seems more about alienating important people through outrageous behavior than it is about making friends in good times so they’ll not abandon you in bad.
Of course, since kites are scavengers, the son was doing what he was meant to do. Kind of like those humans who believe they are destined to mandate (and more) the rest of us where and how to live.

*Source: AESOP'S FABLES By Aesop Translated by George Fyler Townsend (probably from this edition): “Three hundred and fifty Aesop's fables”. Chicago, Belford, Clarke & Co., 1886.
Available at Gutenberg.

Alien reading: Leading from the Middle Library of the week: Eastern New Mexico University at Roswell - Learning Resource Center.

@Copyright John Lubans 2014

 

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