[Stories] A Fable
The time has come for my second Action Project in my Humanities class, Stories. In this unit, we have been talking about fables and folktales like the ones written by Aesop and the ones in the Panchatantra, which are used for teaching people some common-sense lessons. We also had a guest speaker come in. I will leave her anonymous as she is the mother of one of my classmates. She is though, a professional storyteller. She told us a few stories and a little bit about why she became a storyteller. For our Action Project, we have been tasked with writing a fable that includes anthropomorphic animals, or animals that act like humans, and a moral or lesson to take away from it. The animals in the fable must also have the commonly seen features that tend to correlate to those animals. For example, When you think of an owl you think wise, when you think of a fox you think sly and cunning. Overall this has been a very fun unit and I hope you enjoy my fable!
The Snake and the Hawk
One fateful day, all of the animals were preparing for battle. A war had broken out between Lion and Tiger, a fight for King of the Jungle. All of the animals were picking sides as if they didn’t side with one of the two great beasts they would be caught in the crossfire and obliterated. Elephant and Rhino were in the Lion Legion. Eagle and Hippo joined the Tiger Troop. Snake, however, didn’t want to join either side. He found it beneath him to be involved with the petty squabbles of such animals. But when Tiger appeared at his door requesting support and Lion followed a few days earlier, he knew he had to decide which side to be on. It was then that he had an idea. What if instead of joining one side, he joined both?
Snake sent a message to both leaders with the promise of support via the Rat Routes, a mailing system and the only group allowed to remain neutral. He was then summoned for various strategy meetings between the two groups. Snake attended all of these and tried to not say much. Unfortunately, both Tiger and Lion knew of Snake’s great intelligence. They pestered him day after day for battle tips and tricks. Snake was getting very fed up with all of this but he couldn’t leave either group for fear of revealing he was playing both sides. He also couldn’t give either group too much information about the other for fear of the same outcome. All of this came to an end when the battle was scheduled. Snake tried to get both leaders to let him stay home, but they each said they required his advice in the ensuing battle. How could he be in both places at once? That is when he remembered his friend Hawk. Hawk knew of Snake’s endeavors and when Snake told her of the most recent one, Hawk came up with a solution. Hawk had managed to hide from both Lion and Tiger using her flight. If they could create a puppet of Snake and fill it with enough liquid so it moved real, Hawk could maneuver it from the skies. So they got to work. They created the body using woven leaves and mud until it was watertight. They filled and it was the perfect weight and shape. Hawk practiced day and night to emulate Snake’s moves perfectly. Everything was in place just before the day of battle. Hawk and Snake went to sleep relieved. Overnight, however, disaster struck. A violent storm moved in and wrecked many things including the snake puppet. Snake was distraught. “What now?” he cried, “I’ll ssssurely get caught now!”
“I guess you’ll just have to pick a side,” replied Hawk, worried for her friend. Snake nodded and decided in an instant. He was going to be on Tiger’s side. He slithered through the jungle alone, dreaded the encounter to come. He was greeted cheerfully by Tiger and the rest of the Troop, as they all had high spirits for this battle. Just then, a roar could be heard. The call of a Lion. A surprise attack! Tiger’s forces were completely unprepared for what was about to happen to them. Even so, they fought fiercely. In the end, many lives were lost. Snake still lived as he was able to slither through the fighting creatures without drawing too much attention to himself. And then, right in front of him, he saw Lion pinning Tiger down.
“Do you concede?”
“I….yes. You win,” Tiger relents. Lion lets him go and surveys the carnage. Then his eyes set on Snake.
“You! You were on Tiger’s side all along?”
“Yesss Lion. I am very sorry.”
“Sorry doesn’t cut it.” Lion pounced on Snake. “There’s only one thing that would make up for this.” Lion then ran his claws through Snake, skinning him. He then made the skin into a hat.
Moral of the story? Don’t fake your loyalties.
The Snake and the Hawk
One fateful day, all of the animals were preparing for battle. A war had broken out between Lion and Tiger, a fight for King of the Jungle. All of the animals were picking sides as if they didn’t side with one of the two great beasts they would be caught in the crossfire and obliterated. Elephant and Rhino were in the Lion Legion. Eagle and Hippo joined the Tiger Troop. Snake, however, didn’t want to join either side. He found it beneath him to be involved with the petty squabbles of such animals. But when Tiger appeared at his door requesting support and Lion followed a few days earlier, he knew he had to decide which side to be on. It was then that he had an idea. What if instead of joining one side, he joined both?
Snake sent a message to both leaders with the promise of support via the Rat Routes, a mailing system and the only group allowed to remain neutral. He was then summoned for various strategy meetings between the two groups. Snake attended all of these and tried to not say much. Unfortunately, both Tiger and Lion knew of Snake’s great intelligence. They pestered him day after day for battle tips and tricks. Snake was getting very fed up with all of this but he couldn’t leave either group for fear of revealing he was playing both sides. He also couldn’t give either group too much information about the other for fear of the same outcome. All of this came to an end when the battle was scheduled. Snake tried to get both leaders to let him stay home, but they each said they required his advice in the ensuing battle. How could he be in both places at once? That is when he remembered his friend Hawk. Hawk knew of Snake’s endeavors and when Snake told her of the most recent one, Hawk came up with a solution. Hawk had managed to hide from both Lion and Tiger using her flight. If they could create a puppet of Snake and fill it with enough liquid so it moved real, Hawk could maneuver it from the skies. So they got to work. They created the body using woven leaves and mud until it was watertight. They filled and it was the perfect weight and shape. Hawk practiced day and night to emulate Snake’s moves perfectly. Everything was in place just before the day of battle. Hawk and Snake went to sleep relieved. Overnight, however, disaster struck. A violent storm moved in and wrecked many things including the snake puppet. Snake was distraught. “What now?” he cried, “I’ll ssssurely get caught now!”
“I guess you’ll just have to pick a side,” replied Hawk, worried for her friend. Snake nodded and decided in an instant. He was going to be on Tiger’s side. He slithered through the jungle alone, dreaded the encounter to come. He was greeted cheerfully by Tiger and the rest of the Troop, as they all had high spirits for this battle. Just then, a roar could be heard. The call of a Lion. A surprise attack! Tiger’s forces were completely unprepared for what was about to happen to them. Even so, they fought fiercely. In the end, many lives were lost. Snake still lived as he was able to slither through the fighting creatures without drawing too much attention to himself. And then, right in front of him, he saw Lion pinning Tiger down.
“Do you concede?”
“I….yes. You win,” Tiger relents. Lion lets him go and surveys the carnage. Then his eyes set on Snake.
“You! You were on Tiger’s side all along?”
“Yesss Lion. I am very sorry.”
“Sorry doesn’t cut it.” Lion pounced on Snake. “There’s only one thing that would make up for this.” Lion then ran his claws through Snake, skinning him. He then made the skin into a hat.
Moral of the story? Don’t fake your loyalties.
The Lion attacking the Snake
Made by Me, LAH
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