Reading notes: Aesop's Fables, Part B

The Serpent and the File (Jacobs 26): I found this story particularly interesting because I’ve seen the moral being applied around me. One thing that came to my mind was how people sometimes tend to react in violent ways and always regret it or realize that it was useless. A prime example is losing while playing video games or watching a competitive sport. People tend to react emotionally and punch a wall or break something around them to later come and realize that this had no logical reason to be done. In the story, the snake reacted to the file without even considering the impact the file actually had. Therefore, the snake ended up more damaged just because of an emotional reaction. That is another point of view to the lesson learned from the story.

The Serpent and the File

The Bundle of Sticks (Jacobs 72): This story has great meaning and should be a principle of every society. Union does give strength as the author is trying to portray in the story. A prime example is the work ethic of ants. Ants when separated find difficulty to collect food, build their passages and survive. However, the nature of ants portrays how strong unity can make you. Ants are able to build deep sophisticated passages and gather enough food to feed the whole army. The father in the story was trying to show his children how if they work together after his pass, they will be able to break the strongest bundles that none of them can break by themselves. That is a valuable lesson to learn.

The Oak and the Reed (Crane 23): The author emphasized an important moral to the story which is to bend but not break. He used the Giant Oak as a symbol of strength but showed how even at its highest strength it can suffer through a storm. However, an important point is that the Giant Oak was strong enough to maintain its roots by staying put as opposed to a normal tree that would’ve been broken. This lesson can be applied to people who want to adapt a strong personality. If they are tested, they must not break but bend and stand their ground to be able to recover and grow even taller.