West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1878-09-28
FABLES and Rabulists.
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f'''rtN n lfeAAta
irst among them all come the ishlss
OF -tsoP. What . world of controversv
has teen made over the 1sopic fables
Into that tangled discussion ID i not
I proposed 10 enter, We would. however.
/ digress To say that fSOp is not now be-
lieved ~ have been such a lump of de
tormity as certaim bi0graphers have
( stated but that .he was blessed with at
/ lest ordinary Comelines, seems evident
Els" why was he chosen for Crpsus'
antbasSitoUy Why, too has no old
/ aulhor alluded To .fsop's appearance
/ untaNorably: Throughout Greece de-
/ io1nftywas forbiddeu 10 be represented
/ IN The arts :, the- Ihebaus had even a
statute imposing heavy penalties ON the
! 1rpSt departing from this canon of taste
ct tsop's statue was 10y Lycippus. the
hrsI sculptor of his time; and Philos-
! 'ratuN described picture gallery, in
winch was a painting Of Fsop, with a
ehorus OF animals about him. He was
there represented smiling and looking
towards the ground i'm rosturc of
tnought Some painter, like Dore, who
has 50 well illustrated La Fontaine's :
iahies, ought To reproduce this, and
depict the tranquil archness and wit
that should shine i'm the face of the
great fabulist.
II seems settled that Feops fables
nave not come down 10 us in their orig
inal share; many of his fables which
are. cited by old authors not being i'm
our colection-as, for instance. the one
mentioned 10y Bentley, that every man
carries two sacks, one before where no
puts other mems faults, another behind
him, where he puts his own. Fsop. il is
believed, did not write fables himse1f but
told them a. appropriate occasions arose
and they were collected in book form
long after death. .......,
How some of the fables were first re-
lated has been told to us. Doubtless
many were spoken ON state or diplomatic
interviews, and were directly applicable
to points then under dispute. We can
family realize the effect of such a use
ol Fable by Imagining a diplomatic agent
ol our time addressing another i'm that
iorp. Think of dignifcd Mr. Adams
putting the fable OF the BOYS and the
irogs 70 her Malesty'B Foreign Secretary
during the Alabama difficulties: or. if
you wall, suppose one of orr later ambas-
sadors allayiHg popular Indignation in
England by neat apologize about the
Emma mine
The t.sopic fables, like other liter
ature that became current before il was
committed To writing, are concise. the
words are strictly in character. and the
point never obscured by external en-
bellishmehts. II would be difficult TO
find a better application Of Lessing's
remark IN any other branch of criticism,
THAT u rs the peculiar privilege of
antiquity neither TO fail short 10 any
matter nor TO oyerdo it,
Assuming that the common collection
OF Asop's fables is correctly ascribed to
hin-not, Of naursey aluding 70 the
many modern paraphr rases --onc casily
detect certain repetition Of
traits, or rather a tendency
ITO run in ruts n to particular
,animals. The fox, lion and wolf are
most frequent, the fox evidently the
favorite, as out of little over one hun
dred fables lie is.a CONSPICUOUS actor in
no legs than nineteen This seems To
prove certain Greek qualities, their craft,
unscrupulOusy yfoGyI cunninr---fn brief.
what the law books coinprehenEvely
call coviDA as also appears from
abundant historical evidence Perhaps.
too, the modern Greeks came honestly
by that unfavorablc reputation for
shrewd bargainiGg7and for evasion of
their debts which they are beginning to.
hold IN commercial circles.