THE MORAL AND APPLICATION OF FABLES.
'Come, sir, lend it your best ear.'
BEN JONSON: _Love Freed_.
Thus La Fontaine:[10] 'The fable proper is composed of two parts, of
which one may be termed the body and the other the soul. The body is
the subject-matter of the fable and the soul is the moral.'
On the origin of the added morals to fables, Mr. Joseph Jacobs[11]
has the following appropriate remarks: 'The fable is a species of the
allegory, and it seems absurd to give your allegory, and then give in
addition the truth which you wish to convey. Either your fable makes
its point or it does not. If it does, you need not repeat your point:
if it does not, you need not give your fable. To add your point is
practically to confess the fear that your fable has not put it with
sufficient force. Yet this is practically what the moral does, which
has now become part and parcel of a fable. It was not always so; it
does not occur in the ancient classical fables. That it is not an
organic part of the fable is shown by the curious fact that so many
morals miss the point of the fables. How then did this artificial
product come to be regarded as an essential part of the fable? Now,
we have seen in the Jātakas what an important _rôle_ is played by
the _gāthas_ or moral verses which sum up the whole teaching of
the Jātakas. In most cases I have been able to give the pith of
the Birth-stories by merely giving the _gāthas_, which are besides
the only relics which are now left to us of the original form of the
Jātakas. Is it too bold to suggest that any set of fables taken from
the Jātakas or their source would adopt the _gātha_ feature, and
that the moral would naturally arise in this way? We find the moral
fully developed in Babrius and Avian, whom we have seen strong reason
for connecting with Kybises' Libyan fables. We may conclude the series
of conjectures by suggesting that the morals of fables are an imitation
of the _gāthas_ of Jātakas as they passed into the Libyan collection
of Kybises.'
Montaigne remarks that 'most of the fables of Æsop have diverse senses
and meanings, of which the mythologists chose some one that quadrates
well to the fable; but for the most part 'tis but the first face that
presents itself and is superficial only; there yet remain others more
vivid, essential and profound into which they have not been able to
penetrate.'[12]
If this be so, it is an argument against the common practice of
limiting their significance to the one moral that is often given as an
appendage to the fable. It is worthy of note that Æsop did not supply,
either orally or in writing, the separate moral to any of his fables.
They were left to speak for themselves and produce their unaided
effect. The moral or application appended to or introducing a fable
(for both practices are followed), is an innovation, as appears from
what has already been advanced, probably intended to make clear what
was obscure in the apologue.
The true moral is contained in the fable itself. The application may,
and often does, vary with the idiosyncrasies of the commentator.
Besides the moral and application there is in some collections of
fables what is designated 'The Remark,' and 'The Reflection,' in which
the commentator tries, as it were, to drive home the application of the
story with an additional blow. Our own experience as a youth was that
all these appendages to the fable were invariably skipped.
From all which it would appear that the moral and the so-called
application of a fable are not one and the same thing. In point of
fact, the latter may and does vary according to the peculiar views
of the commentator. An exemplification of this may be found in the
applications of Sir Roger L'Estrange and Dr. Samuel Croxall, the
latter taking it upon him to stigmatize in strong language the twist
which he asserted the former gave to the morals of the fables in his
collection. L'Estrange, who was a Catholic, concerned himself in
helping the restoration of Charles II., and was a devoted adherent
of his successor, James, from whom he received place and emoluments.
In publishing his version of Æsop, his object, as he affirms in his
preface, was to influence the minds of the rising generation, 'who
being as it were mere blank paper, are ready indifferently for any
opinion, good or bad, taking all upon credit.' Whereupon Croxall
observes: 'What poor devils would L'Estrange make of the children who
should be so unfortunate as to read his book and imbibe his pernicious
principles--principles coined and suited to promote the growth and
serve the ends of Popery and arbitrary power,' and more to the same
purpose.
The question as to whether the moral or application, if any is
supplied, should be placed at the beginning or end of a fable has
sometimes been discussed. On this head Dodsley has some pertinent
remarks that may be quoted. He says: 'It has been matter of dispute
whether the moral is better introduced at the end or beginning of a
fable. Æsop universally rejected any separate moral. Those we now find
at the close of his fables were placed there by other hands. Among the
ancients Phædrus, and Gay among the moderns, inserted theirs at the
beginning; La Motte prefers them at the conclusion, and La Fontaine
disposes them indifferently at the beginning or end, as he sees
convenient. If,' he adds, 'amidst the authority of such great names I
might venture to mention my own opinion, I should rather prefer them
as an introduction than add them as an appendage. For I would neither
pay my reader nor myself so bad a compliment as to suppose, after he
had read the fable, that he was not able to discover its meaning.
Besides, when the moral of a fable is not very prominent and striking,
a leading thought at the beginning puts the reader in a proper track.
He knows the game which he pursues; and, like a beagle on a warm scent,
he follows the sport with alacrity in proportion to his intelligence.
On the other hand, if he have no previous intimation of the design, he
is puzzled throughout the fable, and cannot determine upon its merit
without the trouble of a fresh perusal. A ray of light imparted at
first may show him the tendency and propriety of every expression
as he goes along; but while he travels in the dark, no wonder if he
stumble or mistake his way.' If it be considered necessary or desirable
to give the moral separately, or to apply the fable, Dodsley's argument
here seems to us to be incontrovertible.
FOOTNOTES:
[10] Preface, 'Fables,' 1668.
[11] 'History of the Æsopic Fable,' p. 148.
[12] Essay: 'Of Books.'