Fables - They are not for Kids

Who likes stories? Yes, all of us love a good story. We grew up hearing stories. We needed bedtime stories to sleep. We lived in the land of stories. We even made up many stories… to impress someone or to escape from a good spanking.

After a stage we think that we have outgrown those stories. After all they are made up of unreal talking animals for kids. But I now believe that we are always young for these stories, especially the fables.

Some fables have got a permanent place in our minds. Who can forget the goose that laid golden eggs, the shepherd who cried wolf, the race between the tortoise and the hare?

Fables are short tales that teach a moral lesson. Aesop’s fables are the most famous ones here in the west. They are not just stories. They have real life lessons for everyone. They have universal messages and are as relevant today as they were thousands of years ago.

I would like to share my experience with a well-known fable to illustrate that these fables are not for children alone. The fable goes like this…

A Man and his son were walking with their Donkey to market. A man passed them and said: "You fools, why are you walking? What is a Donkey for?"

So the Man put the Boy on the Donkey and they continued. They passed a group of men. One of them said: "See that shameless youngster; he lets his father walk while he rides."

So the Man ordered his Boy to get off, and got on himself. But they hadn't gone far when they passed two women, one of whom said to the other: "Shame on that lazy man to let his poor little son trudge along."

Well, the Man didn't know what to do, but at last he took his Boy up before him on the Donkey. By this time they had come to the town, and the passers-by began to jeer and point at them. The Man stopped and asked what they were scoffing at. The men said: "Aren't you ashamed of yourself for overloading that poor donkey?"

The man and the boy then got a pole, tied the donkey’s feet to it, and carried the donkey. Everyone looked at them and started laughing. The donkey was obviously shaken up by this unexpected luxury, and started kicking in panic. When they were over a bridge the donkey got loose and fell into the river.

The moral: "Please all, and you will please none."

I remember hearing this fable from my primary school teacher. At that time the story seemed only funny. It was fun visualizing two people carrying a donkey. I did not really understand the moral, and did not care. It did not make sense for a kid.

Later when I had to make choices, it started making perfect sense. I learned that if I try to please everyone, I would have to end up with a bad choice. It is like tearing a comic book into two to satisfy two kids fighting over it. No one is fully happy.

I have to follow this moral every day while dealing with my relations and at work.

This simple fable has expressed this very useful lesson so vividly that it would stay in our minds forever.

A peek into any management book will show references to the old fables and folklores. Many of them come up with their own fables of mice running in a maze for cheese, pigs running animal farms and so on. What better way to teach the lessons of life than fables, whether it be for kids or for grown ups?

In India, we have the panchatantra and jataka tales. Panchatantra fables are like Aesop’s fables. Jataka tales are stories related to Buddha. They are packed with wisdom.

As a kid I loved reading comics and books that often carried these fables. My contemporaries from India would remember Amar Chitra Katha.

Few days back I saw these comics being sold in an India grocery store here. I felt nostalgic and could not resist buying a few of them myself. I had to tell my friend that they were gifts for a friend’s son. But it was my wife and I who read them J

These fables are pills of wisdom made for easy consumption. They have no prescribed dosage and come in different colors and flavors. They can be had at any age and at any time. Sharing it with someone, especially your children will double their effect. So have them and above all, share them. And don’t ever think that you can outgrow them.