One down...983 left to go...

Guess what!?! I have already completed the first book on my list. Yep, that's right...I went to Panera with my Aesop's Fables picture book yesterday, and over a yummy bowl of soup, I read them all. (Well all of them in this version)! Of course this is less impressive when I tell you that it was a picture book, but still, it's a check on the list.

Reading Aesop's Fables taught me some very important lessons. I now know to avoid foxes, wolves, and other predatory dog-ish animals. Birds of most forms can be trusted, although some are easily swayed by flattery.... let’s see...what else did I learn about animals....

Anyway, aside from the literal lessons of the stories, I was reminded of some valuable life lessons: beware of flattery, know how you are going to get out of a situation before you get into it, etc. As I finished up the stories and drove home, I wondered why we don't tell fables anymore. After all, they are good life lessons tucked in fun stories. So why don't you hear people talking about foxes and crows anymore?

After thinking about it for a while, I realized that we do still tell fables; they just don't look the same. Our modern society and its dependence on technology have changed the way fables are passed down. I read somewhere that Aesop was actually a slave who won his freedom by telling his fables to his master. We don't really sit around telling stories anymore. Instead, we forward emails and pass on stories we heard in church. Although these modern day fables are told as true stories involving real people, by the time they get to most of us they are about as true as the story of the crow who talks to the fox. Instead of the tricky fox, we pass on stories about the tricky criminal who hops in the back of your car while you pump gas, and instead of the silly crow, we have the unaware college girl. Just like the fables, we tell these stories not because we necessarily believe in their absolute word-for-word truth, but because we want to pass on the moral of the story: be aware of your surroundings, don't trust just anyone, avoid dangerous situations, etc.

Maybe I'm completely off, but that's what I thought about as I went to look up my next book. (which, by the way, is Metamorphoses by Ovid--I've never heard of this book, but, from what I gather, it's a collection of stories). Also--tomorrow is Monday, so I'll have ten new words for you tomorrow.