Friday Fable. Group 3’s* “The Hedgehog and the Birds.”**
|

Caption: Group 3’s Eva Ausēja reporting out.
“There was a Hedgehog who admired birds and their freedom. Every day he sat in the meadow and looked to the sky dreaming about flying. One day he climbed on the cliff and a flock of birds flew over him. The Birds asked him: ‘Come with us, be one of us!’ Hedgehog was so excited about this idea that he immediately ran over the cliff to fly. And for one moment he flew with the birds. That moment did not last long. ‘Without wings you can’t fly’.”
“A small elephant is not a rabbit.” – African Proverb
The puzzling African proverb about small elephants and rabbits hardly fazed Group 3. Wishing you were something you are not does not always make it so. Icarus, with his glued-on wings, soared too near the sun, and plummeted like our hedgehog, over the cliff.
Hedgehog - who has a special place in Latvian folklore and folkart - might have done better to create a means to ride along with the birds.
Aesop has, it seems, little patience with those dissatisfied with their situation. The tortoise that badgered the eagle to take him aloft is soon dashed to pieces on a rock.
The bee that implored Jupiter for a weapon against those who steal his honey, gained a stinger only to die using it.
At the same time, the shipwrecked Athenian praying for rescue, is advised by a more pragmatic passenger: “While you pray to Athena, start moving your arms!”
So, follow your dreams, but think about resources and consequences.
*Group 3: Viktorija Vaitkune; Zane Zvaigzne, Gita Ruševica; Elita Vīksna; Agnese Kokneviča; Liene Kalneta; Eva Ausēja.
**This is the third fable created by small groups at the "Wisdom in a Thimble: Managers and Fables" discussion I led at the National Library of Latvia in Riga, February 24, 2016.

Caption: Group 3 creating its fable.
Each group chose a proverb from a provided list of Latvian and African proverbs. The African proverbs came from Kiley Shields' “Puzzling Proverbs: So Why Did The Goat Go Home After It Broke A Leg?”
After picking a proverb, each group created a fable.
The February 24 event anticipates the publication of my e-book of 100 of the Friday Fables (out of 175) along with my commentary and original illustrations by Béatrice Coron.
© Copyright John Lubans 2016