Reading Notes Aesop's Fables (Jacobs) Reading B

 Aesop's Fables: Insects, Snakes, Crabs

This story was about a bunch of different smaller animals. While I was initially most interested in the fables about snakes. The Ant and the Grasshopper were of interest it showed a happy grasshopper who was living in the moment and couldn't understand why an ant would work so hard to store food when there was plenty and he didn't need to work hard for it but the ant was saving food for the winter. The grasshopper was ill-prepared when the winter came however while the ant was full and able to feed the other members of his colony. This story did a great job of setting up the characters their philosophies and showed the outcome quickly as well. The stories about the serpents were interesting they really pushed for a narrative that serpents were wicked and that they couldn't be trusted even if you do kind things for them that they would lash out and attack. I think that this comes partly from biblical times where serpents were seen as vile creatures "the devil" as well as that they have venom and no legs which make them seem all the scarier. I like that in the first story that the serpent was reactionary and not just attacking someone who did something kind and attacking someone who saved them from the cold and put them by fire just to kill their wife and kids or by hurting themselves and lashing out in anger. These stories made me want to write a story about a serpent or snake who did bad things but told from his perspective where he doesn't want to hurt people but has these innate reflexes that he can't control and so he hurts those he cares about and he has to find out how to control himself from being what he hates. I like that theses stories allow for the animals to communicate with the people and I think that it allows for fun storytelling and can teach lessons from things that are typically associated with the animal. I didn't like the crab story as much but it was still good I just wasn't the biggest fan. I think that a story about a snake who tries to do good but is limited by his inability to walk and his easy temper and lashing out and learning to control himself can be a good introspective look at peoples bias against snakes and the things like that and that the snake can't mess up because he has to deal with the consequences even more because of everyone's prejudices and he will just fit the stereotype that is assigned to him.

"White-lipped Pit Viper, Trimeresurus albolabris showing its fangs in Kaeng Krachan national park" by tontantravel is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Bibliography

The Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs (1894):: The Ant and the Grasshopper, The Man and the Serpent, The Woodman and the Serpent, The Man and The Snake, The Serpent and the File, and The Two Crabs