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The Animals' Tale
04/19/2008 15:57:43 / full of life
THE ANIMALS’ TALE - a moral parable.
Copyright: Robert Lovejoy
All around Paradise Waterhole, Mother Nature was having a ball: The Law of the Jungle was firmly in place: “Whatever kind of Animal you are, you had better be ready to run! Run for your prey or run from the Predators!”
On some days Crocodile succeeded in catching Wildebeest for breakfast, and on other days, Wildebeest would send Crocodile out to buy new dentures.
Sometimes Snake would swallow Gazelle whole, and at other times Gazelle would kick the living daylights out of Snake, and make a stylish belt out of him!
The Meerkats just watched in wonder.
A world of Perfect Harmony. Nature in balance.
All too soon, Trouble appeared in Paradise, raising its scary smile and scaly head out of the slime.
The Crocodiles decided that they owned the Water. “We have always grown up surrounded by Water, we know Water intimately, Water naturally belongs to us.” Hadn’t Water passed through many generations of Crocodiles?
The Crocodiles would control this Pool of Resources while living by the Most Secure Banks. Of course, the precious Water would be shared, but the Larger Animals were entitled, by virtue of their size, to take the biggest and most frequent drafts, from those same Lush Banks. The Smaller Animals would have to wait their turn, if that turn ever came. The Crocs patrolled the Pool, controlling its ebb and flow, ably abetted by their friends Bull and Bear who were, strangely, never seen together. Secretly, however, neither Bull nor Bear cared who drank, sank or swam in the Water, just as long as Water was flowing.
Somewhere out on the Far Hot Plains, the fearless well-armed Lions were waging war on the Zebras. No one cared much for Zebras; they wore striped pajamas and were always whining about their rich pasture being invaded by the Lions. Anyway, it was best not to challenge the might of the Lions too much: allow them to sharpen their claws and keep out of their way, lest they turn on you.
Meanwhile, Birds of Foreign Plumage were arriving in flocks from the South. They had exceptional nest-building skills, and a shocking longing to establish New Territories. No walls could keep out the flighty creatures. And there was just no point talking with them, since nobody understood a word they said.
With all this going on, the Water Hole was fast becoming a Cesspool instead of the Source of Life.
Hearing all this commotion, the Monkeys took note and chattered into the night. On their morning rounds they announced the mayhem on the air, or hurled the news at burrows and holes. They let everyone know, however, that Monkeys are only interested in reporting the fun trivial events, not the difficult important ones and are never accountable. “We’re just entertainers,” they cried, “It’s best not to shake the trees too much”.
Something had to be done to tame all this Chaos, and bring it back to Order. A Strong Leader had to be found.
Out of the middle of the muddle stepped Elephant. He rose up on a huge tree stump that Ms Nature had conveniently placed nearby and declared in a mighty bellow:
“Elephants have natural strength. You need such a creature to charge you… er be in charge of you… er, I mean, lead you. Animals expect a leader who understands the need for a sizable pile. Elephants’ piles are always big! With my huge feet on the ground, and my exceptional trunk in the air, I promise we can all be covered in mud. Vote for Elephant, a heavyweight with a nose for leadership!”
Feeling a little peeved at this display of muscle, Donkey trotted out of the crowd. He too jumped onto the stump, and opening his throat, declared:
“It behooves me to say that Donkeys are stubbornly determined. We have a great ability to pull in some direction or other. We will nimbly negotiate any obstacle in our path or change course instantaneously. We Donkeys understand the Common Herd. Vote for me. Be a Donkey or be an Ass!”
Mightily impressed by the rhetoric, the Animals naturally began to take sides and lined up behind either candidate.
“We’ve always been Elephants”, said Parrot, “My father was an Elephant, his father was an Elephant; we’ve never had any Donkeys in our family.”
“Donkeys understand what it takes to get water from a stone, or is that stones from water?”, said Sloth. “Sloths were Donkeys before there were Donkeys.”
Much encouraged, Donkey and Elephant resumed their stump speeches, each trying to outdo the other in what they would do, and what the other would not do, and vice versa.
Versa, unfortunately, gave way to Vice. The insults began.
“Your ears are too big”, uttered the Donkey. “Your ears are too long”, countered the Elephant. Stalemate.
Becoming somewhat lyrical, Donkey then said:
“You’re just a colorless Animal in a rainbow world!”
“You’re as grey as the day”, riposted Elephant.
“Big nose!” “Long nose!”
The atmosphere was becoming a little too personal, but neither could think of a way out of the impasse.
Bad words were uttered; words no animal had ever said or heard before.
“Lumbering Elephant!” “Brainless Donkey!”
Never had truer words been spoken.
With fur and feathers flying, the fictional factions fought furiously!
The Vultures gathered, expecting some easy pickings from the growing body count. What a carry on!
The Lemmings had, by this time, jumped off their favorite cliff; the Crows had gone back to their nitpicking. More and more animals became disillusioned and began to walk away.
The Rabbits, however, got on with being Rabbits, and, having read Fibonacci, increased exponentially, but in a strange ratio.
Elephant packed up and left, trumpeting his somewhat truncated success. After all his neigh-saying, Donkey kicked up the dust, and headed for greener pastures, on the left side of the hill.
The Dung Beetles just went back to work, clearing up. There was a lot to clear up.
Curiously though, the Animals didn’t feel abandoned, but wonderfully empowered. So, in a very short time, every Animal did what each Species does best. In their various ways, they all became Independent, and as a consequence, Interdependent as well. Thus each Animal generously gave of its Talents and Abilities to every other, resulting in the Happy Idea of Collaborative Effort and Cooperation.
In Paradise, the prevailing paradigm popped!
The Pool was regained; the Crocs were sunk!
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