The Clever Moth and Other Animal Fables
Loading...
Authors
Putniković, Radomir
Issue Date
1987
Volume
Issue
Type
Book, Whole
Language
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Apparently first done by Porthill Publishers, Middlesex, England in 1987. This edition was produced by Porthill for Book Essentials. This book represents one of the few times that I have bought the same book twice without meaning to buy it twice. The disturbing fact is that the two purchases were within sixty days of each other. There are nine stories here. The illustrations to all tend to be psychedelic; they show little need to use color realistically. In the title story, the clever moth who has studied (and eaten) lots of books is stumped by a question from a fly about why a crumb of cake gets caught in his throat. The hedgehog accosted by both a fox and an owl for the delicious pear that she is carrying throws the single pear to the two of them. They fight and chase each other so intently that she is soon able to pick up her pear. The Three Fish communicates effectively that the liar can end up swallowing himself. Here a pike tells an overly outrageous story about devouring his own tail after he has consumed a whole river. In The Turkey and the Cockerel, the former cannot stop criticizing those around him; the moral urges that we not criticize if we cannot do as well or better ourselves. The Goose and the Swan teaches--again, effectively, I think--that it's wrong to imagine that if we have one thing similar to somebody else, then we are the same in every way. The Deer and the Spider works like LM. The grateful spider spins webs in front of a cave that shelters the deer, and hunters pass the cave by. In The Two Mice the older of two mice leaves ship because his biscuit is wet--and therefore, he concludes, the ship is leaking. The ship has rough going and sinks, while the adventuresome mouse hangs on to a sausage for dear life. A young wild goose pays with her life when she separates from the flock and is overtaken by the hawk. In the last story, the monkey is rewarded because he, unlike the parrot, can make up new things and do them by himself. Would the latter fable disagree with the first fable in Kalila and Dimna, where the monkey stupidly imitates the carpenter chopping wood--without understanding how to do it correctly. Several of these stories are repeated in the set Animal Fables: Eight pull-out storyboards (1983).
Description
Citation
Publisher
Book Essentials
License
Journal
Volume
Issue
PubMed ID
DOI
Identifier
3673 (Access ID)