Wolves and Cranes and Goats and Wolves...oh my. 2-11-16 Aesop's Fables

Aesop wrote lots about wolves.  Wolves were certainly a creature that Greeks knew well, and it carried over to Roman tellings as well.

Of course as we've discussed before, no animals would ever be as base and foolish as these characters...they're really all about people.

"The Wolf and the Crane"

A Wolf one day after a kill and feast, found himself with a bone lodged in his throat that would not dislodge.  Admiring the long slender beak and neck of a Crane, he offered said bird a huge sum of money as a reward if he would just reach down in his gullet and remove the source of his discomfort.  The Crane worked carefully and expertly, reaching his beak down the Wolf's throat and removed the bone.  When he asked for his reward, the Wolf simply scoffed.  "Your reward is that you were allowed to reach your head into a Wolf's mouth and safely withdraw it harm free.  This is an honor and you should be happy with that.".

MORAL:

"n serving the wicked, expect no reward and be thankful if you escape injury for your pains."

or

"Gratitude and Greed Go Not Together."

"The Wolf and the Goat"

A Goat was grazing happily high on a bluff and safe from danger, when he was spied by a hungry Wolf in the meadow below.  "Come down below, friend Goat.  The grass down here in the meadow is twice as sweet as the grass on that dangerous ridge.", called the Wolf.  The Goat seeing through the Wolf's ruse called back, "It's not for the grass that you call me down Wolf, but for your own hunger."

MORAL:

Beware of Friends with An Ulterior Motive."

Talk to you soon.

Widows and Wild Boars - 2-8-16 Aesop's Fables

More in the continuing saga of a middle-aged man and his sketch blog.  We join our hero today STILL obsessed with illustrating various Fables of Aesop...

This one and it's morals are dedicated to any of those "thrifty" folk out there whoever decided to take on a DIY home project (plumbing, carpentry, electrical, etc.) NOT because they had a talent at a certain discipline, but because they think they'll save a couple bucks by not hiring someone.  Only to having to call said professional later and paying that person who actually knows what they're doing double to fix the original problem AND fixing the destruction that YOU'VE caused.

You know who you are.

"The Widow and the Sheep"

A young Widow left by cruel fate to fend for herself one day contended it was sheering time for her sheep and she could gain some profit from his wool, but hoping to save some expense from the Sheerer in town, decided to do the task herself.  Inexperienced as she was and having no real instruction, besides doing a poor job of shearing the wool also ending up scratching, cutting and even stabbing the poor Sheep.  The Sheep finally broke away from her and exclaimed, "How much weight will my blood add to the wool to increase your pay?  This is sheer (hey, there's a pun there) torture, if you want mutton from me, there's a Butcher down the road who will kill me quickly instead of making me suffer.  If it's truly my fleece you want, likewise there's a Sheerer right next door to him!"

MORAL:

"The Least Outlay is Not Always the Greatest Gain."

Hmm.  Is a "Sheer" and professional sheerer, or is it "Sheerer?".  Note to self:  Look that up.

This next one could certainly be glommed onto by those folks out there who hold so dearly their right to bear arms and own guns, I take it in a broader sense.  If I want to move forward and perhaps turn this Aesop thingy in a profit thing like a book, I can't just talk a game.  I have to actually grab a pen and show something concrete.

"The Wild Boar and the Fox"

One calm and conflict-free day, a Wild Boar was in a clearing, sharpening his tusks on a stump.  A passing Fox asked why he was working so hard at such a seeming waste of time.  There were no hunters or other predators in view for the Wild Boar to be readying himself for battle or defense.  The wiser Wild Boar simply said, "I do it now, as it wouldn't do me much good to sharpen my blades at the very time I need to use them.".

MORAL:

"It is too late to whet the sword when the Trumpet Sounds"

Talk to you soon.

Under Appreciated Trees and Cocky Spiders - 2-5-16 Aesop's Fables

Honest!  This ISN'T an Aesop's Fable blog.  It's just my sketchbook's going that way for awhile.  You look back on all of this and laugh when I'm done 10 years from now or so.

"The Traveler's and the Plane Tree"

2 Traveler's hot and tired from traversing under the summer sun, spied the broad branches of a Plane-Tree and sought rest and relief of it's shade.  After a spell one Traveler sits up and says to his partner, "You know?  I don't think that there's a more useless tree than the Plan-Tree.  It bears no fruit, no nuts...it is completely of no use to mankind at all.".  The Plane-Tree rustled it's leaves and said to the Traveler, "You ungrateful POS!  You sit under my expansive shade to find cool relief from the Sun in your travels and dare to call me useless and unprofitable?".

MORAL:

"Some Men Underrate Their Best Blessings"

Next I gave myself the challenge of cartooning a spider and a silkworm.  I think I did a good job of the worm, the spider could use some work.  I think my downfall here was unseen by me, and that's how to color this simple pair.  Oh well, this is a sketch blog and here for experimentation and trials.

"The Silkworm and the Spider"

One day the Silkworm got a Royal order from Princess Lioness for 20 yards of silk, which She began to produce in earnest immediately.  A Spider came by soon and asked to rent a web-room nearby to ply her ways and in hardly any time at all spun an elaborate web of spider's silk upon which she bragged to the Silkworm, "Check out how gorgeous and delicate it is and done in no time.  Fess up, I am a much harder and efficient laborer than you!  Look how fast that was and you still working.".  The Silkworm said, "Yes.  Now no away kid, you bother me.  I'm trying to work on something worthwhile here.  Your webs only act as utilitarian traps for bugs and if any Man sees one, they easily brush it away and destroy your work even faster than you can spin it.  Useless filth.  My labors however are treasured and stored away for use by Royalty.".

MORAL:

"True Art is Thoughtful, Delights and Endures."

Another favorite of mine.

Talk to you soon.

Expectations and Good Deeds - 2-4-16 Aesop's Fables

Lotsa human types in today's fables.  Good introspection on all their thoughts?

"The Seaside Travelers"

One day a happy bunch of traveler's were walking along a seashore, when they spotted on the horizon what must have been a great ship.  They saw the opportunity, that if that wait till it came to shore, they could board and expand their travels to far off lands, and so for hours they waited.  As the object moved closer, they could see that perspective had deceived them and what they thought was a grand sailing ship was much, much smaller.  Perhaps only a rowboat.  Still they say the opportunity that presented itself and continued to wait until it came to shore.

Finally after waiting for most of a day, they object was close enough they they could see that it was neither a great sailing ship nor a humble rowboat, but just a huge cluster of driftwood, a great bundle of sticks tangled together and floating on the sea.  "We have waited all day for nothing.  We've cost ourselves a sure day of travels and experiences in anticipation of something which never came."

MORAL:

"Our Mere Anticipation of Life Outruns it's Realities"

Man.  Some of these really hit home.  No wonder they've been told over and over for thousands of years.

"The Serpent and the Eagle"

One day an Eagle saw a Serpent slithering along the ground and found what he thought was an easy catch for his supper.  Once the Eagle had the Serpent in his talons and was aloft heading back to his nest, the Serpent wound himself partially free and wrapped his coils around the Eagle in mid-flight and trapping his wings they both fell crashing to the ground where they continued their battle.  A passerby saw the conflict and seeing the Eagle about to lose, he stepped in and separated the 2, saving the Eagles life.  The torqued off Serpent seeking revenge, spat his poison into the passerby's water jug and slithered off confident he had brought death to at least one of his adversaries.  The man thirsty after his troubles, reached for his jug to slake his thirst when the Eagle who had seen what the Serpent had planned, knocked the jug form the man's hand, spilling the poisoned water on the ground.

MORAL:

"One Good Turn Deserves Another"

This Aesop guy was as smart as Uncle Remus!

Talk to you soon.

It's Our Nature! - 2-2-16 Aesop's Fables

Cartoon characters have long been cute cuddly animals.  Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Mickey Mouse and so on, but have you ever seen one that's a scorpion?  No?  Do you know why?  'Cause even with a cartoonists help, scorpions aren't cute.  It's in their nature.

"The Scorpion and the Frog"

One day a Frog and a Scorpion meet at the bank of a stream that they both wished to cross.  The Scorpion asked the Frog if he would carry him across.  The Frog asked, "How do I know that if I do, you won't sting and kill me?".  The Scorpion replied, "Because if I do, I will drown and die, too.".  So the Frog allowed the Scorpion on his back and commenced easily crossing the stream, when suddenly the Scorpion brought down his stinger.  While the both fell into the water to certain death, the Frog had time to ask, "Why did you kill me???".  The drowning Scorpion simply said, "I'm a Scorpion.  It's what I do."

MORAL:

"Self Destruction -'It's In My Nature.', said the Scorpion"

And as if a scorpion weren't an odd enough thing to try and cartoon, when's the last time you saw a cartoon amaranth?  This may be a first.

"The Rose and the Amaranth"

Once in a garden a Rose and an Amaranth blossomed said by side.  "I'm jealous of your beauty and sweet smell." said the Amaranth, "It's no wonder you are loved by everyone.".  The Rose replied, "Your envy is misplaced, friend.  My beauty is only for a short time and eventually my petals whither and fall and I die.  You/re flowers NEVER fade though, even if they are cut your beauty lasts and lasts.".  

MORAL:

"Greatness Carries It's Own Penalties"

Pretty insightful rose.

Talk to you soon.

Quacks and Caws! - Aesop's Fables 01-29-16

A couple of basic and short and sweet fables for today, but then aren't they all.  

This first one has a moral which I'm certain we've all heard at one time in our life though, I guess I wasn't sure where it came from, I always thought it had a Shakespeare feel to it.  After reading the fable though it struck home to a couple of similar stories that actually happened to me.  

Once I had gone to my GP and he was so distracted with his own bad back and his own complaints that his insurance didn't cover the surgery that would help him, that I'm sure my needs were wayyyyyyyyyy down on his priority list.  I wasn't happy with him.

Another more pleasant time that I thought of this saying was when my jaw kept swelling whenever I would eat.  That's right, my left jaw would swell to the point of m teeth not coming together when I chewed, but then after I would give up trying to eat by a 1/2 hour or so, it would return to normal.  After a few days of this, my hunger forced me to head into urgent care, there was no way I could wait a few weeks for my GP to see me.  The attending physician came to greet me wearing a neck brace and I thought, "How the hell is this guy going to help me when he can't help himself?".  After telling him why I was there, he said without batting an eye or even waiting a beat to process it, as if this were something he saw every day, he told me I had a calcium deposit in my salivary gland and it was blocking the duct from where the saliva should flow.  If I would just go to the store and buy a box of lemon heads and suck them, the sourness would force the duct to dilate large enough for the deposit to escape and not block the salivary flow.

I asked, "You're prescribing candy?".  He said, "Yup.".  I stood, shook his hand, thanked him and told him that he was the best damn doctor I had ever met.  Within a day of following his instruction, I was fine.  I never thought about his neck brace again and this moral didn't apply.

"The Quack Frog"

One fine day a Frog ambled out of his muddy home in the marsh and perched himself on a lilly pad, announcing to all who could hear that he was a great and learned physician skilled in all drugs and able to cure any disease.  A skeptical Fox heard and asked the Frog, "How can you promise to aid anyone else in their ailments when you can't even fix your own warty, wrinkly skin or wobbly way of walking?

MORAL:

"Physician, Heal Thyself"

"The Raven and the Swan"

A Raven perched high in his tree, looked down admiringly on the swans swimming in the lake.  He admired greatly their beautiful white plumage which seemed to give them the air of majesty and sophistication, and decided his own black feathers could be just as strikingly white if he just cleaned them in the lake as they did.  He abandoned his home and well being and hunting ground of his lofty nest and came down to the water to wash his feathers and match the swans.  He scrubbed and scrubbed for days and weeks, never changing the dark color of his plumage, never resembling the swans and eventually starved to death by removing himself from his own habitat.

MORAL:

"Change of Habit, Cannot Alter Nature"

Talk to you soon.

Doe. A deer, A female deer. Aesop's Fables doodles 1-25-16

Happy Monday, Kiddoes.  Time for another coupla Aesop's Fables character sketches from your Old Unca Jeffy.

"The Peasant and the Apple Tree"

There once was a peasant with an apple tree.  The apple tree, though it bore no fruit, became a fine and happy home to a family of sparrows and also a group of grasshoppers.  The peasant feeling cheated that he gained no reward or profit from the tree and jealous of the happiness of the insects and birds, resolved to cut the tree down and rid himself of it.  The sparrows and grasshoppers not wanting to lose their home begged of the peasant to stay his ax.  They promised to sing long and sweet.  Songs to constantly lighten his labor and share the benefit of the tree's standing.  The peasant seeing nothing concrete in their silly songs swung his as once, twice and a third time to the horror of the little animals.  On his third strike to the apple tree he had reached the hollow of the tree and found inside a great beehive oozing with sweet honey.  The peasant tasted the honey, saw that it was good and promptly repaired the tree and forever pledged to care for it and protect it from harm.

MORAL:

"Self Interest Alone Moves Some Men"

"The One-Eyed Doe"

A doe with only one eye, used her wits to find a way to graze safely and keep alert to predators.  She found a meadow which opened up on a cliff that faced the sea, so she could position herself with her good eye siding to the open meadow to watch for danger, leaving her blind eye to the cliff from which she assumed would be safe.  One day while happily grazing on sweet grass and alfalfa, a small group of fisherman were returning to their harbor from the sea and saw the vulnerable venison on the hoof and one took great care and aim and threw a spear and caught her mortally in the side.  On the does dying thoughts were,"WTF?

MORAL:

"Trouble Comes from the Direction We Least Expect It."

That's it for today, Kids.

Talk to you soon.