I am privileged to have the family that I do. Growing up, I was exposed to many fairy tales. The more I see of this world, those fairy tales sometimes seem more optimistic than realistic. Still, they furnish my basic understanding, and their divergences from realpolitik should be forgiven by those of us who had to learn the lesson of the scorpion and the frog the hard way.
I want to pass these on to those who were underpriviliged, or even deprived. It is never too late to connect with an uncynical, unalienated part of yourself.
A grasshopper was sitting on a blade of grass when he saw an ant passing below. “Why toil so hard, little ant? There is plenty all around you, enjoy it!” The ant replied, “even though you do not have a colony you are responsible to, you would do well to do as I. The winter is cold, and what seems plentiful now will not last forever.”
“Nonsense,” said the grasshopper, “If you weren't so miserly in your rations you could grow to be as big as me. I sit and enjoy the sun, I play my songs, I eat, and I am happy. The winter, if it ever comes, is a long ways away, and I'm sure I can get by.” He said this, but the ant was already gone, busy storing up food for himself, his comrades who were building hills and boring tunnels, and the young ants in his colony.
There was a hen who was going to be a mother. She knew she would need to feed her chicks, so she set about making preparations. Asking the other barnyard animals, “who will help me till the soil?” she heard, “not I” from the goat, “not I” from the dog, “not I” from the pig. “Very well then, I will till the soil.” said the hen.
When she had tilled the soil, exhausted from the hard work in the hot sun, she asked, “who will help me sew the grain?” She heard from the dog, lazing in the shade of a tree, “not I.” She heard from the goat, foraging in the trash, “not I.” She heard from the pig, wallowing in some mud, “not I.” So she replied, “very well then, I will sew the grain.”
After she had sewn the grain, she laid her eggs. The grain grew up as her chicks were growing, and by the time they hatched the grain was ready to be harvested. “Who will help me reap the grain?” asked the hen. “Not us” she heard from the goat, the pig, and the dog. “Very well then, I will reap the grain.”
After reaping the grain, feeling accomplished, she asked again knowing the answer, “who will help me eat this grain?” The pig said “I will!” the dog said “I will!” and the goat said “I will!” But this time, mother hen said something different, “No, you will not. When I asked for your help tilling the soil, you did not give it, but I didn't need it and I tilled the soil by myself. When I asked for your help sewing the grain, you did not give it, so I sewed the grain alone. And when I asked for your help reaping the grain, you did not give it, and I had to harvest it without you. So now, since you did not help get the grain, you will not help eat it.” Mother hen fed the grain to her chicks, and ate plenty of it herself; but the pig, the goat, and the dog did not, and were hungry that night.
There was a boy who was shepherding. He got a bit bored, so he decided to play a trick. “Wolf! Help! Somebody come help me scare off this wolf!” He was pleased to see many people in his town scurry about, looking for a wolf to chase away. When they didn't find it, one asked, “just where was this wolf again?” The boy, trying not to smile, said “Oh, it must have gotten away after everyone came out to chase it.”
The next day was like the previous, and hoping for a little action the boy once again shouted “Wolf! Another wolf! Help!” The townsfolk once again came out to chase a wolf, but when they couldn't find one they turned to the boy, who could barely conceal his laughter. “And you're sure you saw a wolf?” The boy told them he was sure, and they went back to what they were doing.
Then, after a little while, the boy saw the grass move. Looking closer, he saw that it was actually a wolf and again cried out, this time genuinely, “Wolf! Oh no! It's a wolf, help me chase it!” But the townsfolk had had enough of the boy's game, and they said to themselves, “that boy must think we're stupid. I've got better things to do than chase pretend wolves.” The boy got more desperate and shouted “Somebody, please help!” but nobody would listen. The wolf managed to kill and eat the all boy's small flock.
There once was an emperor who had many fine things. A tailor came one day and said, “Emperor, I have received several bolts of very special silk. In fact, it is the finest in the land, and only the finest people in the land can appreciate it. Would you allow me to make you an outfit from this silk?” The emperor, who fancied himself the finest person in the land, could think of no better outfit for himself, so the tailor began to work.
At first, the emperor was confused when the tailor began his measurements. He seemed to be holding up cloth against his majesty, but there was nothing there. When the tailor began to cut and drape the cloth on the emperor, he couldn't feel its weight. Several of his courtiers were there and he asked them, “Is this the finest cloth in the land?” His courtiers, who could not see the cloth either but did not want to seem like uncouth commoners, replied, “Oh yes! Isn't it marvelous!” The emperor thought that he'd better keep it to himself that he couldn't see the fine cloth while his courtiers could.
After the tailor had finished and been paid a handsome amount, he left. The emperor, wanting to show off his outfit of the finest silk in the land, decided to put on a parade. Even if the commoners couldn't fully appreciate it, they could still be dazzled by the resplendant array. So he had the royal guard march in the street, with himself on the emperor's litter, and his courtiers too in their fancy but lesser clothing.
The commoners were slightly aghast that the emperor was parading through the streets in only his skivvies, but they knew better than to say anything. Well, most of them knew better, but there was a little boy who could not stop laughing. One of the courtiers stepped out of the procession to chastise the boy. “That is no way to act in the presence of the august! What is tickling you so greatly, boy?” The boy, laughing so hard that he could almost not respond, said “the emperor has no clothes!” and continued to laugh. The emperor and the courtiers who heard this turned red with embarassment.
There was a scorpion who was being chased by a fox who meant to kill him. He arrived at a rather large pond, which he knew he could not cross, and he didn't have enough time to go around before the fox cought up. Seeing a frog, he said, “you there, frog! There's a fox coming this way and if you're not careful he'll eat you. Since I've done you a favor by telling you, will you swim across this pond with me on your back? That way we can both escape the fox.”
The frog, who knew a thing or two about scorpions, said “I thank you for letting me know about the fox, but I don't think I should carry you on my back. It is the nature of scorpions to sting.” The scorpion, more pressingly said, “Why would I sting you? If I do, we'll both drown, and that's just as bad as if the fox were to catch up, which he'll do very soon if we don't leave.” Satisfied, the frog let the scorpion onto his back and began to swim across the pond. About halfway across though, he felt a stab, then his limbs began to freeze up and he began to sink. “Why would you do this? Now we'll both drown!” exclaimed the frog. “I guess it's just the nature of scorpions to sting,” said the scorpion.