Week 4 Story: The Wrath of Jove

I dislike being questioned.

I dislike being belittled.

More than anything, I dislike people marginalizing me and insulting me, as if I had made a mistake. Gods are not prone to mistakes.

My name is Jove. If this name is unfamiliar to you, don't be alarmed. I am the almighty being, ruler of both man and beast. Perhaps the name Jupiter rings a bell. I shall tell you the story of a group of frogs who had the audacity to treat me as an idiot who did not give them a sufficient leader. I can assure you that they wish they'd accepted their initial ruler.

Jupiter and Thetis by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres

Source: Wikipedia

It all began a few short weeks ago. Frogs, in my opinion, do not require an outside leader ruling over them. I feel that they do a well enough job of it themselves. But for whatever unknown, asinine, reason, this one group of frogs decided that they didn't like the freedom, the independence, the ability to enjoy life as they had it. They thought they needed a ruler, a King if you will. I thought their request trivial; as I said, frogs do not require a ruler. But, to appease them, I gifted them a wise ruler, one that has been around for hundred of years: a mighty log.

Initially, they were afraid of their new king. It was much larger than them, it was broad and heavy, and so I believed that it would suffice. However, they proceeded to make a fool of me, mocking me by dancing on the log, treating my gift as a source of amusement. They chose to ignore the log and continued their lives as if the log had never been placed there. Had it been left as such, it would have pleased me, as they had their ruler, and I could focus on more important matters.

However, the gift was for naught. Shortly thereafter, they shunned my gift, and had the GALL TO ASK ME FOR ANOTHER LEADER, claiming that the log was not quite to their liking. What king of creature has the audacity to tell the almighty being that they have failed? This infuriated me, because gods are not prone to mistakes. They were going to feel my wrath, as that log was the best ruler they were ever going to get.

So what exactly did the frogs receive as their second ruler? Being the generous and fair Jove that I am, I rewarded them with a beautiful creature. That creature would be a stork. A stork filled with hunger, ready to gobble up as many frogs as he could fit in his stomach. I sat back and laughed, watching the frogs attempt to flee from the stork. After a few short days, the stork had eliminated the entire colony of frogs. Perhaps the next colony will not be so brazen to ask for a ruler. They may receive a visit from the same stork.

Frogs enjoying their stork king

Source: FablesOfAesop

Author's Note:
The story of The Frogs Desiring a King focuses on a group of frogs who desired a king, and received a log from Jove. The frogs were dissatisfied by this gift, and demanded a new king that would actually rule them and keep them in line. This story is retold from Jove's point of view, and teaches the lesson "Better No Rule Than Cruel Rule" as the frogs learned.

Source: The Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs

Reading Notes: Aesop's Fables (Jacobs), Part B

The Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs

Birds
The Crow and the Pitcher
A crow, nearing death from thirst, comes across a pitcher filled with water. However, when the crow goes to take a drink, he discovers that the water is so low in said pitcher that he is unable to reach it with his beak, no matter how much he tries. He thinks, and proceeds to fill the pitcher with pebbles, stone by stone, until the water is high enough that he can reach it and quench his thirst.

The Bat, the Birds, and the Beasts
A bat is caught in the middle of a potential quarrel between the birds and the beasts, and is asked by both sides to join them in the fight. He declines both of them, claiming to be a beast to the birds, and a bird to the beasts, as he did not want to choose a side. However, the fight did not occur, and when the bat went to each faction to celebrate, he was shunned by both, as he had spurned both of them, meaning they did not want him to suddenly align with them.

Insects, Snakes, Crabs
The Man and the Snake
A man is walking through the snow, and comes across a snake that appears to be dead. He still takes it home and places it near the fire in an attempt to help it survive. The snake warms and does come back to life, but when one of the man's children tries to stroke the snake, the snake attempts to bite the child. The man reacts by taking an axe and slicing the snake into two pieces, effectively killing it for attempting to kill his child.

Frogs and Fish
The Frogs Desiring a King
A group of frogs were living alone in a swamp, and became discontent with a lack of leadership. They began wishing for a king to rule over them to keep them managed and in order. They asked Jove to give them a leader, and Jove responded by placing a log into the swamp with the frogs. The frogs, initially fearful of the log, began to realize that the log was not moving, and danced on the log, and continued on with their ways from before the log's presence. After some time, they went back to Jove and asked for a new leader that would actually rule over them. Jove responded by sending a stork, who would eat all of the frogs instead of ruling them, which was worse than the lack of leadership from the log.

The frogs hiding from their stork king

Source: Flickr

Nature and Inanimate Objects
The Man and the Wood
A man enters a forest full of trees with an axe head in his hand, and asks the trees for a branch, as he needed it for a specific reason. The trees were kind, giving him the branch that he desired and asked for. To repay the trees, the man attached the branch to his axe head, turning it into a handle, and proceeded to chop all of the trees down, which he could not have done if the trees had not given him his handle.

Humans and Gods
Hercules and the Wagoner
A man is driving a horse-driven cart carrying a heavy load. As he approaches a fork in the road, one side of the wagon begins sinking into the sand, only becoming more and more stuck as he tries to escape. Desperate to finish his journey, he calls out to Hercules for help. Hercules appears, and says he will not help someone who will not try and help himself get the cart unstuck.

Family and Friends
The Man and his Mother
A man was caught stealing, and was sentenced to death for his crimes. He asks to see his mother one last time, and says he must whisper something to her. When she leans her ear near him, he proceeds to bite it in an attempt to rip it off, mortifying the people around. He says he did so to teach her a lesson for never scolding him when he stole as a child, and instead ended up encouraging him to steal instead of living a life without such actions.

People Wise and Foolish
The Buffoon and the Countryman
A man was at the fair, causing people to laugh by imitating the sounds of various animals. After he attempts a pig's squeal, a farmer says that his squeal is not the real thing, and promises the people who laughed that he will do a much better imitation the next day. The farmer shows up the next day, and as promised, performs a squeal that people find horrifying, and they throw things at him so that he will stop. The farmer then reveals that he was not making the sounds, but that they were those of an actual pig making these noises.

The Goose With the Golden Eggs
A man goes to check on his goose, only to find a golden egg laying in the nest. Once he discovers it is real, he goes back each day, finding more golden eggs, and sells them for large amounts of money. The man, greedy for more gold, kills the goose in an attempt to obtain much more gold, but finds none inside of his goose, and now no longer receives the golden eggs.

Reading Notes: Aesop's Fables (Jacobs), Part A

The Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs

Lions
The Sick Lion
At the end of the lion's life, other animals began attacking the weak and frail lion as a way to repay all of their frustrations with the lion before it became close to death. The lion was agonized, believing that he was not only dying physically, but also in terms of the power it had, as it was being taken away as he laid on his deathbed.

The Four Oxen and the Lion
Four oxen were under threat of attack from a lion, and were able to fend off the attacks by staying in a circle, tail against each other's tails, which prevented the lion from successfully killing one of the oxen. However, as time wore on, they stopped working together, and were meticulously killed off separately, as there was no one else around to protect each individual oxen.

Foxes
The Fox and the Grapes
A fox saw some grapes hanging in a tree. Desperate for them, he tried to reach the grapes many times, to no avail. Angry at his failure, he says that the grapes must not be very good anyway, although this is due exclusively to his failure to obtain any.

The Fox and the Mosquitoes
A fox becomes trapped in a bush by the tail shortly after crossing a river, and becomes engulfed in mosquitoes, who all begin sucking his blood without fear of being swatted away. Another animal, a hedgehog, offers to help the fox get rid of the mosquitoes, but the fox declines, saying that more mosquitoes would just come along and suck out the rest of his blood until he dies.

Wolves
The Dog and the Wolf
A wolf, who is struggling to find food, comes across a dog who promises a better life with steady food for the wolf if the wolf is willing to perform the same work as he does. The wolf, skeptical, agrees to look and see what this life might entail, and follows the dog back home. The wolf notices the lack of hair around the dog's neck, who replies that this is due to a chain being around his neck at night. The wolf declines to follow the dog any further, saying that it is not worth sacrificing his freedom just to obtain food.

Dogs and Cats
The Fox and the Cat
A fox boasts to a cat about how many different ways it has to escape a predator, while the cat explains that it only has one way to escape. When the predators finally come, the cat escapes by climbing into a tree, while the fox begins to think about which escape to use, and ultimately is unable to escape and is killed by said predators.

The Fox and the Cat by Wenceslas Hollar

Source: Wikipedia

Mice

Belling the Cat

A group of mice are trying to devise a way to avoid the cat, so as to know when it is coming. One mouse suggests that they attach a bell to the cat so that they may hear its ringing when the cat approaches. As ingenious of a plan as it was, no one was willing to be the mouse that attached the bell to the cat, knowing they would be risking their lives.

Asses
The Ass in the Lion's Skin
An ass came across a lion's skin that had been left behind by hunters. The ass proceeded to put the skin on and wander into its home village, terrifying the townspeople. The ass then brayed, alerting the townspeople to the charade, causing them to laugh at the ass for giving up its identity.

Deer
The Hart and the Hunter
A stag is marveling over its antlers, which is believes are majestic and beautiful. However, it is sad that it has such small legs, which it believes is not befitting of the crown its antlers are. It runs from a hunter that shoots an arrow at him, but ends up caught in the trees by his antlers, which were too large to run successfully, and end up being the reason he is killed.

Hares
The Hare With Many Friends
A hare, who everyone says is their friend, is afraid of being hunted by a group of hounds. They plead to each friend one by one, begging for protection from the hounds, but is rebuffed each time by all of the other animals. The hare is fortunately able to escape by their own feet, avoiding being killed by these hounds.