Saturday 21 January 2017

The Frogs Seek A New King; Or, The Foresight of Aesop

Athens had liberty and justice for all
But for all this still the people complained.

Absolute freedom: too much of a good thing.

Enter Pisistratus, aspiring tyrant:
With his followers he took the Acropolis.

This the Athenians could not stand –
Not that he was cruel –
But he was in charge, not they.

Aesop, though, heard them complaining,
And told, as he did, a fable:

The frogs, free in their swamp
Petitioned from Jove a king
Who could MAKE THE SWAMP GREAT AGAIN

The father of the gods laughed, and hurled
A small log
Which splashed down with sound and fury
And terrified the timid race.

At length it sank into the mud
And one of the frogs
In subtle silent curiosity
Pushed his head above the water
And saw but a muddy log;
So he summoned his tribe to their so-called king.

Abandoning their fear, indignant,
They swam to that heaven-sent timber
And petulantly lept aboard.

Then they befouled it, as only frogs know how
And demanded from Zeus
Another king!
For the one he had sent was really quite useless.

He sent a snake instead,
Which showed them all
How not useless its teeth were
Using them to snatch the frogs, one by one.

Fruitlessly they fled,
Silently they screamed,
Dreadfully they died.

The survivors in secret
Sent a message to Jove
Seeking surcease of sorrow.

But he responded only:
“Ye who would not accept your blessings
Must suffer now your curse.”

And you too, dear reader:
Endure things as they are
Lest all that you make greater

Are your sufferings.

(Phaedrus, Fabulae 1.2)