The Elephant's Peaceable Kingdom and Other Salty Fables
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Authors
Hale, Nathan Cabot
Issue Date
1999
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Type
Book, Whole
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Abstract
I am delighted to have come upon this book. The first words of the foreword make it clear that the animals we meet here are not Aesop's. But they are a bit of Thurber's and Bierce's. There are thirty-one fables on 119 pages, with a T of C on vii. Each fable has a full-page black-and-white illustration. One of my favorite fables is The Case of the Fat Fox (7). An overeating fox goes to an owl for psychiatric help and is charged twenty mice per session. The fox has to work to catch the mice and loses some weight. Success leads the fox to acquiesce when the owl doubles his rate, and the fox loses still more weight. By the time the rate is up to sixty mice per session, the fox is back to normal weight, but the now overweight owl dies, and is lamented not only by the scientific and medical community but also by the fox, who found him a great therapist. Another is The King of the Baboons (51), which features a pissing contest to determine the new king every five years. A wily old baboon finds a clever way to win the contest after his prime. A final favorite is The Camel Who Became a Prophet of Love (55). This camel puts together his two fixations--singing and humping--to keep himself happy and even to form a new religious sect, The Pathway of the True Humpers. Moral: Allah always finds ways to explain his truths to unbelievers.
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Publisher
White Whale Press
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DOI
Identifier
5102 (Access ID)