Animal Conversations: A Collection of Fables
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Authors
Rescher, Nicholas
Issue Date
1994
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Type
Book, Whole
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Abstract
There are forty-four fables here, and they occur in a standard format. On the left is a full-page detailed black-and-white illustration that grows out of this original fable. On the right is a prose and a verse rendition of the same fable. The stories are those of a self-confessed moral philosopher; where others write their great novel, he writes his fables. This book is encouraging for me, because the fables are real fables. Not all are equally engaging, but they try to do what fables do, and more than a few succeed. I like particularly The Lion and the Unicorn (3), in which the lion takes power but not money and so yields all his gold to the unicorn. The latter soon points out that the golden crown now belongs to him. The Cat and the Mouse is another good traditional, though original, fable. The cat asks the mouse what he finds most striking about his elegant form. The mouse answers That it's too big to fit through my mousehole (59)! The morals are perceptive, e.g., We generally believe our own contribution to a conversation to be by far the best part (5), Rare indeed are those to whose ears praise is not music (17), and Usually, it is smarter to keep out of somebody's way than to try to persuade him to be mindful of your interests (31). Among the best illustrations might be The Crow and the Chickadee (24), A Historic Conference (38), and The Cardinal and the Pigeon (48). I am surprised to find K&B signed on a number of the illustrations. Who are they?
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Citation
Publisher
NAP Publications
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Identifier
5159 (Access ID)