The Real Morals behind Aesop's Fables

Multiple recorders, various interpretations by various people, and a group of thinkers known as Fabulists have kept alive the fables of a man known as Aesop. The fables left to us by Aesop have been used in many different ways throughout centuries, ranging from teaching children morals to pushing political agendas. But do we really know the morals of these fables? Perhaps not.

THE ASS IN THE LION'S SKIN

The story – An ass wearing a lion's skin scares everyone till he is exposed in front of a fox because of his braying.

The moral – Clothes are superficial items that don't change who you are and attempting to alter other people's percep tion of you through clothes is ultimately a futile endeavor because your real nature will eventually come out.

The real moral – Don't be fooled into thinking that this fable is trying to teach us that people won't judge us by our clothes because they will, and they do, no matter what. What they're really teaching you is that to appear smarter than you really are, you need to be quiet, in person and on Twitter, until you learn to convincingly adopt a fake voice, accent, and manner of speaking. They are also not telling you that being silent might help you listen better and maybe even learn something, because that depends on the people you choose to give your attention to, and chances are a smart person with a lot to teach you bores you because it requires you to spend time thinking about things critically instead of falling into your old habits of thinking.

THE BULLS AND THE LION

The story – A lion turns a group of bulls against each other to break them up and kills each of them when they are alone.

The moral – Trust your friends over your enemies and that there is strength in unity.

The real moral – Look deeper into this fable and look at the terms friends and foes a little differently than you usually would. Here, friends mean people with similar views and foes are those who differ. If you stay together, you can defend yourself against a person who holds opinions contradictory to yours. Go your own way and they will make you doubt and question your own beliefs, which is a dangerous thing to do because it's very difficult and can mean admitting to other people that you were wrong. If you stick together in a group, you can drown out the voice of those people who differ from you and imagine what they say to be stupid no matter how logical it might have sounded. Some of these "lions" might tell you that you're just choosing to lock yourself in an echo chamber but last time I checked no one went deaf from listening to echoes, okay? Okay?

THE BELLY AND OTHER MEMBERS

The story – The hands and feet are unhappy that the stomach receives all the food, but they realize why this happens when they feel weaker after all the food doesn't reach the stomach.

The moral – Working as a team is important.

The real moral – Now of course this doesn't mean that everyone in a group has a different function and all their contributions matter. No, thinking that is silly. Did you not watch the video Jaiden Animations made about the horrible group project she was a part of with Renesmee and Bloodrayne? Pfft. This, as any student in university would know, is a disguised warning for all the people who put in work and are capable of doing good work in group projects. Any hardworking honest person knows that there will be some not so hardworking students who will reap off of the work of others. Moreover, assigning work to a certain group can result in the overall quality of the work being butchered. So, the moral of this story is that you must do all the work yourself to submit a decent report and presentation. You can't just let go of 20% of your overall grades because of some lazy people. Also, food is completely absent from this story of course, and the chances of you getting a treat from your group mates is zero.

THE WOLF AND THE LAMB

The story – A wolf wants to eat a lamb but wants to also prove that killing the lamb is not wrong. However, even after the lamb defends himself against all of the wolf's allegations, the wolf still decides to eat the lamb.

The moral – Tyrannical people will find a way to get what they want even if they cannot justify their actions

The real moral – There's no point explaining yourself to people whose hearts are filled with hate. The "hearts filled with hate" comment might seem familiar because many people use it on the internet when someone seems to hate on a person simply for being themselves and not causing any harm whatsoever. But the reason this phrase is used so often is because it is true for many people. The issue is when people tell you that this phrase is sometimes used by people to stifle or ignore valid criticism. I, of course, completely disagree. Your teacher telling you that your answer is wrong is not because it actually is wrong, but because your teacher's heart is filled with hate. People will say things like the teacher is just doing their job and they couldn't care enough to personally cause a student anguish, but you just know they try to find faults in you because of their hatred. You just cannot say anything as other people will behave all tyrannical by saying you're being silly! Therefore it is better to not bother explaining yourselves to such wolves who don't feel the pain you feel when everything you do doesn't garner praise.

Matilda likes to pretend she is invisible and inconspicuous. Tell her that you can read right through her at matilda.tilda1234@gmail.com