As a young boy growing up in the forties and fifties, storytelling was a common way for older folks to teach younger children different lessons about life and morals. One of the most popular storytelling or fables that adults and school teachers often referred to was Aesop.
While growing up, I didn’t know very much about Aesop except the fact that most stories were frequently prefaced by Aesop’s Fables. As a young boy not knowing that a fable was the same as storytelling, I thought his name was Aesop Fable. Before grade school, I recalled Daddy telling me several stories as his way of teaching me how to examine both sides of an issue.
Once when I was feeling unsure about my athletic ability to compete with a playmate, Daddy told me the story about the “Rabbit and the Turtle.” He described in his own vernacular how the turtle won a race against the over confident rabbit. The rabbit was so sure he could out run the turtle, he took a nap before finishing the race, and when he awakens, the turtle had won the race, because he refused to give up. At least, that was the way Daddy told me the story. According to the recorded version, it was one of Aesop’s Fables, The Tortoise and the Hare, told slightly differently, but just as effective.
To this very day, there exist different versions about the details of Aesop’s biography.Most historians describe him as a slave born in Ethiopia, a storyteller who bought his own freedom and grew up in Ancient Greece between 620 – 560 BC.
Many from my generation might recall growing up being told stories or reading such popular Aesop’s Fables as:
The Goose with the Golden Egg. A story about how an old farmer discovered his goose laid an egg, which he first thought was no good, until he realized it was gold. Each day as he collected an egg, he grew richer and richer, until he became impatient with only one per day. His greed led him to kill and cut open the goose, hoping to collect all the remaining eggs inside. Instead, he didn’t find anything inside his prized goose. The moral behind this story is that greed can cause you to destroy the best thing in your life, or one can be blinded by greed.
The Boy Who Cried Wolf. A story about an attention seeking shepherd boy who was bored with his life. Decided to get the attention of his neighbors living in a nearby village by shouting “Wolf!” After several hurried attempts to rescue the boy from his imaginary wolf. The villagers eventually stopped responding to his shouts. One day, while the boy and his flock were being attacked by a wolf, no one from the village responded. The moral of this story being, once you tell a lie, it’s harder for anyone to believe you, even if you’re telling the truth.
The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing. A story describing how all things are not as it appears to be, or how some people are not always as they pretend, and how one can become a victim of their own pretentious or delusive behavior.
There are literally hundreds of stories or fables accredited to Aesop’s name. As such, history has accorded this former slave the title of “Father of Storytelling.” To this very day people all around the world are using many of Aesop’s Fables to teach their children and students lessons about morals and virtue. Although, Aesop is popularly known for his children’s stories, many of his fables appealed to adults as well.
For example, Aesop’s Fable, The Man and His Two Wives. A story about a man who had a young wife and an old wife. According to the story, both wives loved their husband, but wanted him to appear their age. The young wife felt embarrassed by her husband’s grey hair. Each night, as she combs his hair, she would pluck out his grey hairs. The older wife, appreciated her husband’s grey hair, because she did not want to look older than her husband. Every morning, she would comb his hair and pluck out each strand of black hair. Until one day the man was completely bald. One of the morals of this story is that you can never have things both ways without paying a price, or if you straddle the fence, you could end up in a ditch.
Great lessons we have all learned from a former slave. What do you think?
Tags: Aesop's Fable, fables, storytelling
thanks for the info. born in detroit (72). i didn’t know about aesop and if i had, didn’t know he was black. great tribute to black history month.