kingdom inside out, while the
wild beasts slept. They searched every house and stable, galloped
through every hill and waded across every valley. But no one knew
of a fabulist. No one had even heard of one. Defeated, the army was
bringing the king the bad news, when a general spotted a strange
man under a bridge, whispering into a dog’s ear. At first the foot
soldiers thought he was just a wild beast from another kingdom. His
hair was long and matted, his beard dropping below his navel. He
only wore rags for pants, and his body looked as bony as the
starving dog he was talking to. The foot soldiers captured the man
and, in a cage, brought him back to the King.
The King looked pale and sleep deprived. “Can you
help me with my promenade, all these wild beasts are ruining my
health? I’ll give you your own castle and food for life.” The King
opened the cage. The fabulist looked around lost and said slowly:
“These beasts, you’re afraid of, are trying to tell you something.
But since you live too high in your tower, you cannot heed their
cry.”
The King’s eyes brightened for the first time in
months. “I have been ill-advised, asked to live in the clouds.” He
sat next to the fabulist. “Tell me the truths you’ve learned in the
wilderness.” The fabulist rose and opened the front door: “Why not
just go for a walk?” he said. So the King rose and walked out.
The Girl
and the Tree (#2)
In a land not so far away, a frail stalk was
sprouting from the ground. It was hot, and the ground was dry,
cracking in places.
“Give me some water, I’m so thirsty,” the
stalk said imploring a little girl skipping by.
The little girl took a look at the drying
stalk and ran away to the river to fetch water, and then with the
water she watered the stalk.
“Thank you and thank you,” said the stalk,
relishing the moist soil. The little girl sat by the stalk and
watched it grow. The stalk grew big and became a small tree. But
the weather was cold and often cloudy, and the tree was
unhappy.
“Could you chase those clouds away for me,
so that the sun can reach my branches and my leaves, and I can grow
really tall and strong,” asked the tree.
The little girl who had grown tall too built
a giant fan, and with her fan, she whisked the clouds away. She
then sat back down and watched with wide eyes the tree grow tall
and strong, with branches lush with leaves.
Years passed, and the little girl became an
old woman, who could barely walk. The weather was windy and damp,
tough on her bones, while the tree was tall and strong.
“Can I take shelter under your branches,
tree?” she asked. “I wish I was tall and strong like you, but the
rain is too much for my old back.”
“Of course you can,” answered the tree. “But
I wish you hadn’t spent your life watching me grow and instead had
become yourself a tree.”
The old ailing woman nodded with a little
girl’s smile for a minute, and then she poured a jug of water over
herself.
The Lion and The
Monkey (#3)
A starving monkey came across a well-dressed
lion eating a sandwich on a street corner, near a train
station.
“Give me my sandwich,” shouted the monkey
abruptly.
“No way,” answered the lion. “It’s mine. Go
and get your own.”
“I wasn’t talking to you,” replied the
monkey with rage. Surprised, the lion glanced around and seeing no
one stared at his sandwich.
“Good try, but my sandwich doesn’t have a
sandwich,” said the lion.
“Surrender now. I promise I’ll eat you
without a fuss, with a fork and a knife.”
The lion chuckled and took another bite.
“Well it isn’t complaining at the moment
that I’m chewing it,” said the lion with a mouth full.
“How can it complain? You just bit its head
off, and it can’t hear me,” said the monkey clasping his hat with
both hands.
“Excuse me but have we met before?” asked
the lion perplexed.
At that moment, the monkey burst into tears.
Shocked by the monkey’s
wild beasts slept. They searched every house and stable, galloped
through every hill and waded across every valley. But no one knew
of a fabulist. No one had even heard of one. Defeated, the army was
bringing the king the bad news, when a general spotted a strange
man under a bridge, whispering into a dog’s ear. At first the foot
soldiers thought he was just a wild beast from another kingdom. His
hair was long and matted, his beard dropping below his navel. He
only wore rags for pants, and his body looked as bony as the
starving dog he was talking to. The foot soldiers captured the man
and, in a cage, brought him back to the King.
The King looked pale and sleep deprived. “Can you
help me with my promenade, all these wild beasts are ruining my
health? I’ll give you your own castle and food for life.” The King
opened the cage. The fabulist looked around lost and said slowly:
“These beasts, you’re afraid of, are trying to tell you something.
But since you live too high in your tower, you cannot heed their
cry.”
The King’s eyes brightened for the first time in
months. “I have been ill-advised, asked to live in the clouds.” He
sat next to the fabulist. “Tell me the truths you’ve learned in the
wilderness.” The fabulist rose and opened the front door: “Why not
just go for a walk?” he said. So the King rose and walked out.
The Girl
and the Tree (#2)
In a land not so far away, a frail stalk was
sprouting from the ground. It was hot, and the ground was dry,
cracking in places.
“Give me some water, I’m so thirsty,” the
stalk said imploring a little girl skipping by.
The little girl took a look at the drying
stalk and ran away to the river to fetch water, and then with the
water she watered the stalk.
“Thank you and thank you,” said the stalk,
relishing the moist soil. The little girl sat by the stalk and
watched it grow. The stalk grew big and became a small tree. But
the weather was cold and often cloudy, and the tree was
unhappy.
“Could you chase those clouds away for me,
so that the sun can reach my branches and my leaves, and I can grow
really tall and strong,” asked the tree.
The little girl who had grown tall too built
a giant fan, and with her fan, she whisked the clouds away. She
then sat back down and watched with wide eyes the tree grow tall
and strong, with branches lush with leaves.
Years passed, and the little girl became an
old woman, who could barely walk. The weather was windy and damp,
tough on her bones, while the tree was tall and strong.
“Can I take shelter under your branches,
tree?” she asked. “I wish I was tall and strong like you, but the
rain is too much for my old back.”
“Of course you can,” answered the tree. “But
I wish you hadn’t spent your life watching me grow and instead had
become yourself a tree.”
The old ailing woman nodded with a little
girl’s smile for a minute, and then she poured a jug of water over
herself.
The Lion and The
Monkey (#3)
A starving monkey came across a well-dressed
lion eating a sandwich on a street corner, near a train
station.
“Give me my sandwich,” shouted the monkey
abruptly.
“No way,” answered the lion. “It’s mine. Go
and get your own.”
“I wasn’t talking to you,” replied the
monkey with rage. Surprised, the lion glanced around and seeing no
one stared at his sandwich.
“Good try, but my sandwich doesn’t have a
sandwich,” said the lion.
“Surrender now. I promise I’ll eat you
without a fuss, with a fork and a knife.”
The lion chuckled and took another bite.
“Well it isn’t complaining at the moment
that I’m chewing it,” said the lion with a mouth full.
“How can it complain? You just bit its head
off, and it can’t hear me,” said the monkey clasping his hat with
both hands.
“Excuse me but have we met before?” asked
the lion perplexed.
At that moment, the monkey burst into tears.
Shocked by the monkey’s
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