Leading from the Middle

Caption. Aesop Losing It. By Alex Gregory, New Yorker, January 3, 2005.

“A Cat heard that the Birds in an aviary were ailing. So he got himself up as a doctor, and, taking with him a set of the instruments proper to his profession, presented himself at the door, and inquired after the health of the Birds. ‘We shall do very well,’ they replied, without letting him in, ‘when we've seen the last of you.’"

“A villain may disguise himself, but he will not deceive the wise.”

We all have them, those terrible, no good, very bad days. Even the ever-patient Aesop, ever ready to find deep meaning in the most humble of events, sometimes gets fed up and flips his lid (and finger).
Regaining his composure, Aesop has these birds outwitting the cat. They’re too savvy for Mr. Puss and bid him a less than fond farewell. And, so it can be in the workplace wherein we should be wisely vigilant for the bilker, the bamboozler, the puller of fast ones, and the flimflammer.


Caption: A Consulting Cat. Illustration by Arthur Rackham, ca. 1912.

*Source: AESOP'S FABLES A NEW TRANSLATION BY V. S. VERNON JONES WITH AN INTRODUCTION By G. K. CHESTERTON AND ILLUSTRATIONS BY ARTHUR RACKHAM (Publisher: London: W. Heinemann; New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1912). Available at Gutenberg.



© John Lubans 2015

 

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