THE FABLE IN HISTORY AND MYTH.
'Full of wise saws.'
SHAKESPEARE: _As You Like It_.
'Fables,' says Aristotle, 'are adapted to deliberate oratory, and
possess this advantage: that to hit upon facts which have occurred
in point is difficult; but with regard to fables it is comparatively
easy. For an orator ought to construct them just as he does his
illustrations, if he be able to discover the point of similitude, a
thing which will be easy to him if he be of a philosophical turn of
mind.'[42]
The truth of this is exemplified in the use which has been made of the
apologue by orators in all ages, but especially in early times.
The following instances of the application of fables to particular
occasions are recorded. The fable of _The Belly and the Members_, which
is reputed to be the oldest in existence, is of sterling excellence,
as well as of venerable antiquity.[43] Its lucid moral is truth
in essence. The logic of its conclusion is as invulnerable as the
demonstration of a proposition in Euclid. There is no gainsaying it,
turn it how we may, and, with all due deference to Montaigne, only one
moral is deducible from it. This is solid bottom ground and bed rock,
safe for chain-cable holding; safe for building upon, however high
the superstructure. Striking use was made of it by Menenius Agrippa
when the rabble refused to pay their share of the taxes necessary for
carrying on the business of the State.
In the 'Coriolanus' of Shakespeare, Menenius, the Roman Consul,
is introduced in character,[44] and recounts the apologue to the
disaffected citizens of Rome. Thus the dramatist, in his superb way:
_Men._ Either you must
Confess yourselves wondrous malicious,
Or be accused of folly. I shall tell you
A pretty tale: it may be you have heard it;
But since it serves my purpose, I will venture
To stale 't a little more.
_1 Cit._ Well, I'll hear it, sir; yet you must not think
to fob off our disgrace with a tale; but, an 't please you,
deliver.
_Men._ There was a time when all the body's Members
Rebelled against the Belly; thus accused it:
That only like a gulf it did remain
I' the midst o' the body, idle and inactive,
Still cupboarding the viand, never bearing
Like labour with the rest; where th' other instruments
Did see and hear, devise, instruct, walk, feel,
And, mutually participate, did minister
Unto the appetite and affection common
Of the whole body. The Belly answered:
_1 Cit._ Well, sir, what answer made the Belly?
_Men._ Sir, I shall tell you. With a kind of smile,
Which ne'er came from the lungs, but even thus--
For, look you, I may make the Belly smile
As well as speak--it tauntingly replied
To the discontented Members, the mutinous parts
That envied his receipt: even so most fitly
As you malign our senators, for that
They are not such as you.
_1 Cit._ Your Belly's answer? What!
The kingly-crowned head, the vigilant eye,
The counsellor heart, the arm our soldier,
Our steed the leg, the tongue our trumpeter,
With other muniments and petty helps
In this our fabric, if that they----
_Men._ What then?----
'Fore me this fellow speaks!--what then? what then?
_1 Cit._ Should by the cormorant Belly be restrained,
Who is the sink o' the body----
_Men._ Well, what then?
_1 Cit._ The former agents, if they did complain,
What could the Belly answer?
_Men._ I will tell you,
If you'll bestow a small--of what you have little--
Patience awhile, you'll hear the Belly's answer.
_1 Cit._ Ye're long about it.
_Men._ Note me this, good friend,
Your most grave Belly was deliberate,
Not rash, like his accusers, and thus answered:
'True is it, my incorporate friends,' quoth he,
'That I receive the general food at first,
Which you do live upon; and fit it is,
Because I am the storehouse and the shop
Of the whole body; but, if you do remember,
I send it through the rivers of your blood,
Even to the court, the heart, to the seat o' the brain,
And through the cranks and offices of man.
The strongest nerves, and small inferior veins,
From me receive that natural competency
Whereby they live; and though that all at once,
You, my good friends----' This says the Belly, mark me.
_1 Cit._ Ay, sir; well, well.
_Men._ 'Though all at once cannot
See what I do deliver out to each,
Yet I can make my audit up, that all
From me do back receive the flour of all,
And leave me but the bran.' What say you to 't?
_1 Cit._ It was an answer. How apply you this?
_Men._ The senators of Rome are this good Belly,
And you the mutinous Members; for examine
Their counsels and their cares; digest things rightly,
Touching the weal o' the common, you shall find
No public benefit which you receive
But it proceeds or comes from them to you,
And no way from yourselves. What do you think?
The oldest fable in Holy Scripture, having been spoken or written about
six centuries before the time of Æsop, is that of _The Trees in Search
of a King_, recounted by Jotham to the men of Shechem, and directed
against Abimelech,[45] wherein it is shown that the most worthless
persons are generally the most presuming:
'And all the men of Shechem assembled themselves together, and all the
house of Millo, and went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the
pillar that was in Shechem. And when they told it to Jotham, he went
and stood in the top of Mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and
cried and said unto them, Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God
may hearken unto you. The Trees went forth on a time to anoint a king
over them; and they said unto the Olive-tree, Reign thou over us. But
the Olive-tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by
me they honour God and man, and go to wave to and fro over the trees?
And the Trees said to the Fig-tree, Come thou, and reign over us.
But the Fig-tree said unto them, Should I leave my sweetness, and my
good fruit, and go to wave to and fro over the trees? And the Trees
said unto the Vine, Come thou, and reign over us. And the Vine said
unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go
to wave to and fro over the trees? Then said all the Trees unto the
Bramble, Come thou, and reign over us. And the Bramble said unto the
trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your
trust in my shadow; and if not, let fire come out of the Bramble, and
devour the cedars of Lebanon.'
The Samians had impeached their Prime Minister for embezzling the money
of the Commonwealth, and would have put him to death. Æsop, addressing
the assembled councillors, introduced the fable of _The Fox and the
Hedgehog_ into his oration, as an argument to dissuade them from their
purpose.
'A fox, swimming across a rapid river, was carried by the current into
a deep ravine, where he lay for a time bruised and sick, and unable to
move. A swarm of hungry flies[46] settled upon him. A hedgehog, passing
by, compassionated his sufferings, and would have driven away the flies
that were tormenting him. "Pray do not molest them," cried the fox.
"How is this?" asked the hedgehog. "Do you not want to be rid of them?"
"By no means," replied the fox; "for these flies are now full of blood,
and sting me but little, and if you rid me of these which are already
satiated, others more hungry will come in their place, and will drink
up all the blood I have left." Thus also, O Samians, this man no longer
injures you, for he is wealthy; should you, however, put him to death,
others who are poor will come, who will exhaust you by filching the
public money.'
Such a plea in arrest of judgment would hardly suffice in these later
days.
The fable of _The Frogs petitioning Jupiter for a King_ was spoken by
Æsop to the Athenians in order to reconcile them to the mild yoke of
the usurper Pisistratus, against whom, after they had raised him to the
supreme power, the people began to murmur. 'The Commonwealth of Frogs,
a discontented, variable race, weary of liberty, and fond of a change,
petitioned Jupiter to grant them a king. The good-natured deity, in
order to indulge this their request with as little mischief to the
petitioners as possible, threw them down a log. At first they regarded
their new monarch with great reverence, and kept from him at a most
respectful distance; but perceiving his tame and peaceable disposition,
they by degrees ventured to approach him with more familiarity, till
at length some of them even ventured to climb up his side and squat
upon him, and they all conceived for him the utmost contempt. In this
disposition, they renewed their request to Jupiter, and entreated him
to bestow upon them another king. The Thunderer in his wrath sent them
a crane, who no sooner took possession of his new dominions than he
began to devour his subjects one after another in a most capricious
and tyrannical manner. They were now more dissatisfied than before;
when applying to Jupiter a third time, they were dismissed with the
reproof that the evil they complained of they had imprudently brought
upon themselves, and that they had no remedy now but to submit to it
with patience.'
Plutarch, in his account of 'The Feast of the Sages' at the Court of
Periander, King of Corinth (himself one of the seven), narrates the
incident of Alexidemus, natural son of the Tyrant of Miletus, who,
having taken offence at being placed lower at the table than 'Æolians,
and Islanders, and people known to nobody,' was ridiculed by Æsop,
who related to the assembled guests the fable of _The Arrogant Mule
mortified_. 'The lion,' said he, 'gave a feast to the beasts. The horse
and the ass sent excuses, the one having to bear his master a journey,
and the other to turn the mill for the housewife; but, in order to
honour the hospitality of the forest king, they sent their son, the
mule, in their stead. At table a dispute arose about precedence, the
mule claiming the higher place in right of his parent the horse,
which the ox and others disputed, asserting that the mule had no just
pretensions to the dignity claimed. At length, argument having run
high, the mule would fain have been content with the seat reserved for
the ass; but even this was now denied him, and, as a punishment for
his presumption, he was thrust to the lower end, as one who, instead of
meriting consideration, was nothing but a base mongrel.'
It is said that when Æsop was being taken to the rock Hyampia, there to
be sacrificed, he predicted that the hand of retributive Justice would
smite his persecutors for their inhumanity; and, reciting the fable of
_The Eagle and the Beetle_, he warned them that the weakest may procure
vengeance against the most powerful in requital of injuries inflicted.
'A hare, being pursued by an eagle, retreated into the nest of a
beetle, who promised her protection. The eagle repulsed the beetle,
and destroyed the hare before its face. The beetle, remembering the
wrong done it, soared to the nest of the eagle and destroyed her eggs.
Appealing to Jupiter, the god listened to the petition of his favourite
bird, and granted her leave to lay her eggs in his lap for safety.
The beetle, seeing this, made a ball of dirt, and, carrying it aloft,
dropped it into the lap of the god, who, forgetting the eggs, shook all
off together.'
_The Piper turned Fisherman_ was spoken by Cyrus (King of Persia) at
Sardis to the Ionians and Æolians on the occasion of their sending
ambassadors, offering to become subject to him on the same terms as
they had been to Crœsus. But he, when he heard their proposal, told
them this story: 'A piper seeing some fishes in the sea, began to
pipe, expecting that they would come to shore; but finding his hopes
disappointed, he took a casting-net, and enclosed a great number of
fishes, and drew them out. When he saw them leaping about, he said
to the fishes: "Cease your dancing, since when I piped you would not
come out and dance."' Cyrus told this story to the Ionians and Æolians
because the Ionians, when Cyrus pressed them by his ambassador to
revolt from Crœsus, refused to consent, and now, when the business
was done, were ready to listen to him. He therefore, under the
influence of anger, gave them this answer.[47]
The fable of _The Horse and the Stag_ was rehearsed by Stesichorus to
the citizens of Himera[48] with a view to stimulating them to beware
of the encroachments of Phalaris the Tyrant, whom they had chosen
general with absolute powers, and were on the eve of assigning him a
body-guard. 'The stag, with his horns, got the better of the horse, and
drove him clean out of the pasture where they used to feed together.
So the horse craved the assistance of man; and in order to receive the
benefit of his help, suffered him to put a bridle on his neck, a bit
in his mouth, and a saddle upon his back. By this means he entirely
defeated his enemy. But guess his chagrin when, returning thanks, and
desiring to be dismissed, he received for answer: "No! I never knew
before how useful a drudge you were; and now that I have found what
you are good for, you may depend upon it I will keep you to it." Look
to it, then' (continued Stesichorus), 'lest in your wish to avenge
yourselves on your enemies you suffer in the same way as the horse; for
already, through your choice of a commander with independent power, you
have the bit in your mouths; but if you assign him a body-guard, and
permit him to mount into the saddle, you will become, from that moment
forth, the slaves of Phalaris.'
When the Athenians, with the ingratitude which sometimes blinds a
whole people to the merits of their best friends, would have betrayed
Demosthenes into the hands of Philip, King of Macedonia, the orator, as
watch-dog of the State,[49] brought them to a better frame of mind by a
recital of _The Wolves and the Sheep_. 'Once on a time, the wolves sent
an embassy to the sheep, desiring that there might be peace between
them for the time to come. "Why," said they, "should we be for ever
waging this deadly strife? Those wicked dogs are the cause of it all;
they are incessantly barking at us and provoking us; send them away,
and there will no longer be any obstacle to our eternal friendship and
peace." The silly sheep listened; the dogs were dismissed, and the
flock, thus deprived of their best protectors, became an easy prey to
their treacherous enemy.'
On another occasion, when the populace were wrangling and disputing on
matters of comparatively small moment whilst neglecting more important
concerns, the same orator warned them of the danger they were in of
losing the substance in fighting for the shadow. 'A youth,' said he,
'one hot summer day, hired an ass to carry him from Athens to Megara.
At mid-day the heat of the sun was so intense that he dismounted, and
sat down to repose himself in the shadow of the ass. The driver of the
ass thereupon disputed with him, declaring that he had a better right
to the shade than the other. "What!" said the youth, "did I not hire
the ass for the whole journey?" "Yes," replied the other, "you hired
the ass, but not the ass's shadow." While they were wrangling and
fighting for the place, the ass took to his heels and ran away.'
FOOTNOTES:
[42] 'Rhetoric,' book ii., chap. xx.
[43] 'A variant of it, or something very like it, was discovered twelve
years ago by M. Maspero in a fragmentary papyrus, which he dates about
the twentieth dynasty (_circa_ 1250 B.C.).'--Jacobs: 'History of the
Æsopic Fable,' p. 82.
[44] Act I., Scene i.
[45] Judges ix. 8-15.
[46] Aristotle in his 'Treatise on Rhetoric,' book ii., chap. xx. has
horse-leeches as the blood-suckers.
[47] Herodotus, i. 141. Cary's translation; Bohn.
[48] Aristotle's 'Rhetoric,' book ii., chap. xx.
[49] The episode of the eccentric and, alas! well-nigh forgotten
politician, John Arthur Roebuck, in his assumption of the character of
'Tearem,' the watch-dog, will recur to readers.