The Rat with a Bell… a fable
February 21, 2018
There was an old country house that was infested with rats and nothing could be secured from their depredations. The vermin scaled the walls to reach the farmer’s bacon hanging from the ceiling and hanging shelves offered no protection for the cheese and pastries. The preserves and sweetmeats were no safer in the pantry, the rats gnawed through cupboard doors, undermined floors, and ran races behind the wainscots.
The cats could not reach them, the vermin were too clever and too well fed to bother with poisoned bait, and traps only caught a few heedless stragglers. However, the farmer caught one of these stragglers and fitted him with a small bell and then let him loose.
Moral: He who is raised so much above his fellow creatures as to be the object of their terror, but suffer for it in loosing all the comforts of society. He is a solitary being in the midst of crowds. He keeps them at a distance and they equally shun him. Dread and affection cannot subsist together. Design by Meredith Eliassen, 2018.
Overjoyed by his freedom, the rat ran into the nearest whole and searched for his companions. They heard the tinkle, tinkle at a distance and assumed it was an enemy in their midst and scattered in every-which way. The bell-bearer pursued, and soon guessing the cause of their flight, he was greatly amused. He chased his friends from hole to hole, and room to room, laughing all the while at their fears, even as he increased it by all means in his power. Soon he had the whole house to himself. He thought, “That’s right, the fewer, the better.” So he rioted alone and stuffed himself with goodies until he could hardly walk.
For two or three days, life was good. He ate and ate, until he grew tired of his lonely condition and longed for his old family and friends. The difficulty now was how to get rid of the bell. He pulled and tugged with his fore-feet until he nearly wore all of the fur from his neck, but all in vain. The bell was now his plague and torment, so the rat wandered from room to room searching for a companion, but they all stayed out of his reach At last, as he moped about in despair, he fill into a puss’s clutches and was devoured in an instant.
Source: John Aikin (1747-1822) and Anna Lætitia Barbauld (1743-1825), Evenings at home, or, The juvenile budget opened (New-York: Harper & Brothers, 82 Cliff-Street, 1839.) Barbauld was unable to publish because of her political stances, and collaborated with her brother to get this book published.
The Boys and the Frogs… be nice!
January 30, 2018
Two frogs dodging rocks… design by Meredith Eliassen, 2018.
Some boys were playing by the edge of a pond. Unaware that there was a group of frogs living there, they amused themselves by throwing stones into the pond to make them skip across the water. The stones were flying so thick and fast and the boys were enjoying themselves very much that they did not notice that the poor frogs in the pond were dodging the stones or trembling with fear amidst the grasses.
At last, the oldest and bravest of the frogs made a stand, and said: “Oh, please, dear boys, stop your cruel play! Though it may be fun for you, it means death to us!” Design by Meredith Eliassen, 2018.
Always stop to think whether your fun may not be the cause of another’s unhappiness.
Aesop’s Great and Little Fishes
April 27, 2017
It’s never wise to compare yourself to others.
Fish design by Meredith Eliassen, 2017.
Earlier in the day, a fisherman was drawing up a net from the sea that was full of all sorts of fish. While the big fish were all caught and hauled into the ship, a little fish escaped through the net mesh and swam back into the deep. As he crossed paths with more big fish, the little fish was grateful that his seeming insignificance was actually his safety net.
The Lesson of the Flying Fish…
May 7, 2016
“Flying Fish,” inspired by a circular fish motif from a medieval manuscript, was designed by Meredith Eliassen, 2016. TO PURCHASE NOTECARD
The flying fish originally had no wings, but having an ambitious and discontented nature, she repined at always being confined to the waters and hoped to soar in the air.
“If I could only fly like the birds!” She thought, I should not only see more of nature’s beauty, but I should be able to escape from those fish that are continually pursuing me that make me so miserable.”
The little fish petitioned Jupiter for a pair of wings and immediately felt her fins expand. They grew to be the length oh her body and were so strong. That she soon took on an air of disdain that her former companions did not appreciate, and soon felt herself exposed to new dangers. When flying in the air, she was first pursued by a tropical bird and then by an albatross. Distraught, she returned to the ocean, so fatigued by her flight, that she was less able to escape the larger fish.
Finding herself even more unhappy than she had been before, she returned to Jupiter and begged him to return to her original state.
Jupiter responded: When I granted you your wings, I knew they would prove to be a curse, but your proud and restless disposition deserved this disappointment. Therefore, what you begged as a favor, keep as a punishment!”
Source: John Aikin (1747-1822) and Anna Lætitia Barbauld (1743-1825), Evenings at home, or, The juvenile budget opened (New-York : Harper & Brothers, 82 Cliff-Street, 1839.) Barbauld was unable to publish because of her political stances, and collaborated with her brother to get this book published.
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