A Wolf, meeting with a Lamb astray from the fold, decided not to attack the lamb, but to find some reason to justify to the Lamb why the Wolf had the right to eat him. So the Wolf said:
“Sir Lamb, last year you greatly insulted me.”
“But,” bleated the Lamb mournfully, “I was not born last year!”
Then the Wolf said, “You feed in my pasture.”
“No, good sir,” replied the Lamb, “I have not yet tasted grass.”
Again the Wolf said, “You drink water from my well.”
“No,” exclaimed the Lamb, “I never yet drank water, for as yet my mother’s milk is both food and drink to me.”
Upon which the Wolf seized the Lamb and ate him up, saying, “Well! I won’t remain supperless, even though you refute every one of my accusations.”
Moral: The tyrant will always find a reason for his tyranny.
I get where you're coming from, but wolves aren't tyrants. Stories like this that demonize wolves are why they are in danger of extinction, and why ecosystems, where wolves have been hunted out of existence (or nearly), are so out of whack.
Correct, and your sarcasm underlines my point. Anthropomorphizing wolves as evil, scheming demons (e.g. Red Riding Hood, the 3 little pigs) rather than ecosystemic extremely important apex predators leads to situations where laws to hunt wolves for sport to extinction get little to no pushback. The result is the explosion of grazing animals to the detriment of the entire ecosystem, from waterways and fish to birds of prey.
Take a look at the study of the totally unexpected and wonderful results in Yellowstone after the park reintroduced wolves into the park.
As Caity often points out: It starts with a narrative. "Wolves are evil schemers out til kill your grandmother." "They are 'tyrants' who will find any justification to kill a defenseless lamb."
You don't need a fable with a wolf. You can just use Nazi Germans and Jews, or Israelis and Palestinians, or Saudis and Yemenese and it is much more horrific because it historically or currently true.
A Wolf, meeting with a Lamb astray from the fold, decided not to attack the lamb, but to find some reason to justify to the Lamb why the Wolf had the right to eat him. So the Wolf said:
“Sir Lamb, last year you greatly insulted me.”
“But,” bleated the Lamb mournfully, “I was not born last year!”
Then the Wolf said, “You feed in my pasture.”
“No, good sir,” replied the Lamb, “I have not yet tasted grass.”
Again the Wolf said, “You drink water from my well.”
“No,” exclaimed the Lamb, “I never yet drank water, for as yet my mother’s milk is both food and drink to me.”
Upon which the Wolf seized the Lamb and ate him up, saying, “Well! I won’t remain supperless, even though you refute every one of my accusations.”
Moral: The tyrant will always find a reason for his tyranny.
I get where you're coming from, but wolves aren't tyrants. Stories like this that demonize wolves are why they are in danger of extinction, and why ecosystems, where wolves have been hunted out of existence (or nearly), are so out of whack.
They also don't typically carry on conversations with their prey, not that this isn't beside the point.
Correct, and your sarcasm underlines my point. Anthropomorphizing wolves as evil, scheming demons (e.g. Red Riding Hood, the 3 little pigs) rather than ecosystemic extremely important apex predators leads to situations where laws to hunt wolves for sport to extinction get little to no pushback. The result is the explosion of grazing animals to the detriment of the entire ecosystem, from waterways and fish to birds of prey.
Take a look at the study of the totally unexpected and wonderful results in Yellowstone after the park reintroduced wolves into the park.
As Caity often points out: It starts with a narrative. "Wolves are evil schemers out til kill your grandmother." "They are 'tyrants' who will find any justification to kill a defenseless lamb."
You don't need a fable with a wolf. You can just use Nazi Germans and Jews, or Israelis and Palestinians, or Saudis and Yemenese and it is much more horrific because it historically or currently true.
It's also not Aesop.
Apropos nothing