Week 3 Story: Short Stories From Aesop

 Short Stories From Aesop

The Boy and His Teacher

A boy fell into a swift river by accident. He latched onto a tree branch to avoid drowning, but he couldn’t hold on for long. On the shore, he saw two teachers walking by. “Help!” he screamed. The first teacher scowled and said: “This is your own fault for behaving so recklessly. You must face the consequences of your decisions.” The second teacher recognized that the boy needed help, not punishment, in this situation. He told the boy to remain calm and pulled him ashore. From then on, the boy put more effort into his studies with the first teacher.

The Farmer and the Apple Trees

One day a man decided he would become an apple farmer, so he planted some apple trees. Since he knew nothing about farming, he observed other farmers at work. The neighbor with the most prosperous orchard was cutting off branches. “Why are you doing that?” he asked. “You must prune your trees so they bear more fruit,” the neighbor replied. Excited he knew the secret to cultivating apples, the farmer rushed home to cut off many branches from his trees. Sadly, no apples grew. The farmer should have known that there is always more to learn.

The Shepherd and the Wolf Cubs

A shepherd found some abandoned young wolves in the forest. He felt pity for them and took them home to raise them. He also trained them to protect his flock of sheep from other predators. When the wolves grew up, the first thing they wanted to do was eat all the sheep in the shepherd’s flock. But then they remembered all the care the shepherd had shown them, and decided they couldn’t. So the wolves lived on protecting the shepherd's flock.

The Star-Gazing Astrologer

One night an astrologer was taking his usual midnight walk, staring up at the sky everywhere he went. Not looking ahead, he accidentally fell into a ditch. He moaned in pain, but a passerby only laughed at him, saying: “Get your head out of the clouds! Watching your step is more important than watching the stars every night.” With no one to help him, the astrologer laid in the ditch throughout the night, watching the sky. That night, he discovered a new planet, and people remembered his name for generations.

The Old Lion's Last Breath

A lion reaching the end of his days lay weakly on the ground. As animals passed by, they bowed and gave respects, thanking the lion for the protection and wisdom he had offered during his prime. “I never thought this day would come,” a donkey said sadly, with a boar and a bull nodding in agreement. “It is good that I used my power and strength for the good of all animals,” thought the lion, “for they now respect me even in my sickness and old age.”

Author's Note

My inspiration for these short stories came from Laura Gibbs' retelling of Aesop's fables. Aesop was a slave in ancient Greece, and his stories passed through oral tradition. Along the way, stories and proverbs from different times and places accumulated, all still being attributed to Aesop. I chose five tales to retell that I liked, but wanted to change a little. Specifically, I wanted to alter the morals. 

In the first story about the boy in the river, I wanted the emphasis to be on how to be a helpful teacher, rather than just showing how too much scolding can be harmful. So I added a second teacher that saved the boy who was not in the original story. 

In the next story about apple farming, the original moral was "be careful when you imitate an expert." I liked the basic idea, but I wanted the moral to be more about being careful when you think you know more than you do. So in my version, the apple farmer is brand new to the occupation and overly confident in his abilities. 

In the third story about the wolf cubs raised by the shepherd, I completely changed the ending. Originally, the wolves devoured the shepherd's sheep. I wanted the wolves to demonstrate a change in character because of the shepherd who raised them, so they did not eat the sheep in my retelling. I made the shepherd seem more kind and less Machiavellian toward the wolves to make the new ending more realistic. 

In the fourth story, most everything remains the same, but the astrologer doesn't discover a planet in the original. Aesop's story condemns the astrologer for looking at the stars at all times, but I wanted to show the benefits of this (in addition to the drawback of falling into a ditch). 

Finally, I altered the last story about the dying lion significantly. In the original tale, the boar, bull, and donkey kick or disrespect the lion, whose former power and tyranny they resented. My story tells the tale of a lion who behaved kindly to other animals in his earlier life.

Story Source: Gibbs, Laura. Tiny Tales From Aesop, Readings A and D.

Image Information: 

1. River image from Jaunathan Gagnon on Unsplash.

2. Apples photo from Jen Theodore on Unsplash.

3. Shepherd and sheep from Patrick Schneider on Unsplash.

4. Photo of stars from Jeremy Thomas on Unsplash.

5. Lion in South Africa from Rudi de Meyer on Unsplash.