Reading Notes: Aesop (Jacobs), Part B

 Nature and Inanimate Objects

Assembled fables are from Aesop are compiled by Joseph Jacobs alongside a tale from Shakespeare's Coriolanus.

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

The Man and the Wood, plot points

• A man walks into the forest with an ax head
• He asks the trees to please supply him with a single branch, which they offer freely out of kindness
• The man attaches the proffered branch to his ax head and proceeds to chop down many trees

The Tree and the Reed, plot points

• A large oak looks down disdainfully at the little reed by his roots
• The oak tells the reed that it must grow deep roots, lest someone pluck him out of the ground
• The reed says he is content with his roots, much to the chagrin of the oak
• A large storm comes through and twists the trunk of the tree, breaking the tree into pieces
• The reed survives because it could bend with the wind

The Wind and the Sun, plot points

• The wind and the sun are arguing who holds more sway over man
• A traveller comes down the road and the two decide he will determine who is right
• The wind blows at the man with all his might, in an attempt to get the man to remove his cloak
• The man tightens his cloak all the more to shield himself from the wind
• The sun's turn comes and he bend all the lights he can muster at the man, also attempting to get the man to shed his cloak
• In the oppressive heat of the sun, the man tears his cloak off

The Two Pots, plot points

• A clay pot and a brass pot sit side-by-side on the banks of a river
• The rain falls and the water rises, carrying the two pots downstream
• In the tumult, the clay pot shouts "Stay away Brass Pot, lest you shatter me!"

The Belly and the Members, plot points

• One certain day the members of the body notice that they do all of the work for the body, but the stomach gets all the food
• Outraged, they determine to go on strike until the stomach gives them what they say as their due portion
• As they strike, the whole of the body goes weak from starvation and the members realize the stomach had been working just as hard as they all along