Friday Fable. Aesop’s “THE SOW AND THE WOLF”*

Posted by jlubans on February 27, 2015

20150227-sowwolfplatter.jpg
Caption: Platter produced by Copeland & Garrett around 1833.

“A pregnant sow lay on the ground, groaning with the pangs of labour. A wolf came running up and offered his assistance, saying that he could play the role of midwife. The sow, however, recognized the deception lurking in the wicked wolf's conniving mind and she rejected his suspicious offer. 'It is enough for me,' said the sow, 'if you will just keep your distance!' If that sow had entrusted herself to the treacherous wolf, she would have wept with the pain of childbirth while bewailing her own demise.”

An appended moral declares: “A man should be put to the test before you put your trust in him.”
The sow knows intuitively not to trust the wolf. Humans are less transparent and may require vetting. In the workplace, I have had friends who have fallen away due to absence and distance or a lack of mutual interests. A very few have behaved like the wolf – "absconded", so to speak, “with the goods” and left me “holding the bag.” All understandable to some extent – “it’s bidness, just bidness” - but when it does happen there remains a debt unpaid.
When it comes to “testing” our relationships, the workplace rarely offers stark choices like between the wolfish and the lamb-like – it’s more complicated than that. Work relationships are more - forgive me - nuanced. Our wolves often dress in sheep’s clothing or bow ties. But, there are clues, however tiny, for the observant. Does the new friend want you to join him in malevolent gossip? Does the new friend claim your ideas as hers?

*Sources: Laura Gibbs' Aesop's Fables web site and, her book, Aesop's Fables. A new translation by Laura Gibbs. Oxford University Press (World's Classics): Oxford, 2002.

Note: Leading from the Middle is listed in the “Metro Lib Guide” on Library Management (of the Metropolitan New York Library Council) as one of six books on leadership. Edited by Kimberly Sweetman.

@Copyright John Lubans 2015

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