Lost in the World of Aesop
“Oh, beautiful Crow. You are lovely to see. I’m sure a bird as pretty as you, has a beautiful voice, too. Would you please sing for me?” A black bird was the first thing that I saw when I opened my eyes. I looked around, but there was no other bird in sight, just a sly looking fox.
I started to wander around when I heard squeaky sounds. They seemed to be coming from the foot of the tree. I sat down and peeked through the hole. A nest of mice was gathered in a meeting.
One mouse shouted, “We should put a bell around the cat’s neck!” The oldest among them stood up and said, “That’s a brilliant idea! Now, who’s going to approach the cat and put the bell around its neck?” The loud murmurs died down. Some of them looked down while others looked around to see who would volunteer. I jumped when their eyes met mine. I got up and ran as fast as I could.
“Hey, watch it, boy!” A man riding a donkey yelled when he saw me running at full speed towards them. “Get out of the way, child. That man has no compassion. Look at him riding that poor donkey.” “Oh, don’t you listen to him. That man was carrying that donkey halfway here, but they all made fun of him.” The people were saying different things. That was my cue to get away from there.
I must’ve gotten tired of all the running that I dozed off under a similar tree where I saw the council of the mice. Behind the tree was a small body of water with a bridge over it. “Woof! Woof!” I woke to a dog barking at his reflection in the water. After a few minutes, I heard a splash and a cry. The dog was in the water! Did he fall? Did someone push him? I ran to help him out when I heard some monkeys laughing at the treetops.
“What a foolish dog!”, commented one, “He was so greedy”, another monkey laughed. “He already had a fine bone in his mouth. He just dropped it in the water for nothing,” the biggest monkey said.
“It was not for nothing. He thought he saw a bigger bone in another dog’s mouth. That’s the reason he jumped in”, the only female monkey explained. They kept quiet when they saw me watching them.
“What are you doing here? Where did you come from? Are you here to party with me?” A grasshopper that came out of nowhere asked me. He looked familiar and I knew why. He was in that book I used to read when I was younger, so I was not surprised when he started singing and dancing.
I sang and danced with him, but reality hit me. All the animals I met before the grasshopper were also in that book.
“Where am I?” I wondered. I felt scared and began shouting in all directions. “Help! I want to go home now! Anyone there? Please help me!”
“Hello, Sam. Welcome to Aesop’s World. Why do you want to go home? Don’t you like it here?” A voice echoed in my head.
“I don’t belong here. I want to go home. Please tell me what to do.” I begged. “Don’t worry. As soon as you can tell me the lessons you learned from the different animals you met, you will find yourself safe back in your own bedroom. That’s a promise.” The voice explained.
“Okay. Let me recall. That part with a crow being praised by a fox just so she would open her mouth and drop the cheese, it’s about not believing words of flattery. Then there was that gathering of the mice. I learned that it’s easier to give suggestions than to do the suggestions yourself.” I stopped to think back.
“Go on, Sam. You can do it.” The voice encouraged me. “The man and the donkey! Whatever you do, people will always have something to say. Then that dog on the bridge. Be content with what you have.”
“How about that grasshopper. Do you know who he was with? What lesson did you learn from him?” the voice asked.
“I’m sure he was with some ants who were busy carrying food for storage, while he was just playing around. I learned that I should not waste my time doing things that will not help me when difficulties come.”
As soon as I said the last word, I found myself back in my bed reading Aesop’s Fables, just like the echo promised.