Old Fables Retold

Abstract

"This primary school reader offers three fables on 24 pages: "The Donkey and the Lion"; "The Horse and the Fox"; and "The Crow and the Snake." The first is a surprise to me. An imported donkey meets a lion in Africa and impresses him with his voice. They become friends. Soon the lion begins to wonder about the claimed regal qualities of his friend, who has trouble getting across a river and jumping over a wall. To demonstrate his strength, the donkey knocks down a wall that had resisted the lion's efforts. The lions all look up to him. To confirm his status, he challenges them to move through a field of thistles and begins to eat them. They gladly accept him as king, particularly because he does not want the game they kill for food. In the second story, a farmer reluctantly drives off his old workhorse, saying that he will not feed him any more until he comes back stronger than a lion. A friendly fox offers to help. The horse must lie perfectly still as though dead. Fox goes to a lion who has been plaguing local farmers to tell him of the dead horse. The fox advises the lion to let the fox tie the horse to his tail, so that the lion can drag the dead horse back to his den. But first the fox must supposedly test the rope by tying the lion's paws together and letting him try to get free. This horse lives happily to the end of his days. The third story comes straight from Kalila and Dimna. The snake is making his home in the hollow of a tree where Mr. and Mrs. Crow are tending their six young. Mr. Crow devises the plan himself. That plan in this version calls for the golden anklets worn by the prince who washes in the river. There is one black-and-white full page illustration for each story. The covers show pictures of fairies and mushrooms."