Week 3 Story: Aesop Fables

The Giraffe and the Hummingbird

There once was a giraffe that complained day in and out that she was too tall. Every time she went for a walk she would have to kneel down so that she would not hit the trees and to drink water she had to lean all the way down to reach the watering hole. She would complain to all of the other animals in the savanna. One day the baboon told the giraffe that she needed to stop complaining, “what if you were short like me, you would have to climb and work hard to get your food from the trees”. But the giraffe told him that he just could not understand. In the Heavens, the trickster god Hermes had been listening to the giraffe wine and complain about her size for far too long. He came down to Earth and asked the giraffe if she was sure she wanted to be smaller. The giraffe excitedly replied “yes, just a few inches should do”. So, Hermes granted her wish and changed the giraffe into a Hummingbird. “No, no, no” cried the Hummingbird I am far too small and I must flap my wings to get anywhere I need to be bigger. But Hermes would not grant the giraffe her wish. He explained that she got exactly what she wanted and that now she was to be small forever. 

Treasure what you have before it is lost forever!

A giraffe sticking out its tongue. Source: PublicDomainPictures by Mark II

The Roadrunner
There once was a Roadrunner who loved to help all of his friends. Because of the Roadrunners fast speed all of the other animals would ask the Roadrunner to run their errands for them. One day while on an errand for the crocodile the Roadrunner tripped and hurt his food very bad. When he got back to the crocodile he apologized for being late and explained what had happened to his foot. Since the crocodile had gotten his things he did not care and went off to soak in the swamp. The Roadrunner went off to tell his other friends he would not be able to run their errands until his foot had healed. All of the other animals were angry with the Roadrunner, surely, he would still run faster than them, even with one foot. Not wanting to make his friends angry or disappointed, the Roadrunner tried to run all of their errands even on a hurt foot. Finally, at the end of the day the Roadrunner went to see the doctor barley able to walk. When the doctor saw the Roadrunners leg all he could do was shake his head. Then he asked the Roadrunner, “Why would you still run on this foot, even when it was hurt?” When the Roadrunner explained that he needed to help his friends the doctor told him, “It might feel good to please your friends, but now you will lose your foot and never be able to run again.”
You can’t please everyone!

A peaceful roadrunner. Source: Flickr by Dawn Beattie

Authors Notes: These stories were based off of the Aesop for Children with the author unknown and illustration by Milo Winter (1919). What I really like about the tales from the Aesop for Children is that they are short enough to keep a child entertained but still have a good lesson at the end. For my two tales, I picked two random life lessons. I personally think these lessons are popular with people today, but they were not mention in the collection of tales that I read through. I kept the same theme of having animals as my main characters, like a majority of the tales from the original Aesop for Children. In one original story, Mercury and the Woodman, the god Mercury intervenes in the Woodman’s life to help him get an axe that he lost in the lake. Then, because of the Woodman’s honesty, Mercury gives him an axe of gold and silver with his original axe. This gave me the idea of bringing in the trickster god Hermes to change the Giraffe. Since it was not going to be a positive change for the Giraffe, I felt the trickster god was bettered fitted to “help” the Giraffe. The reason I had the Giraffe turn into a Hummingbird is because it was the only small animal I could come up with plus the added fast beating wings of Hummingbirds seemed like an added punishment the trickster god would want to add. In most of the original Aesop for Children tales the animal that is learning a lesson ends up dying or losing something very precious to them. This is how I got the idea to have the Roadrunner lose his speed for his friends even though it is the one important thing that a roadrunner is known for. I hope you have enjoyed my story and would love to hear feedback!