Misadventures in the Land of Fables #63

I’ve been roaming this land of fables for so long I fear I may be going around in circles, of figures of eight, infinities. I return to the same stories from different directions and forget the sights I’d seen and the thoughts I’d had. Sometimes I repeat them.

I read again Arthur Golding’s curious rendering of ‘The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing’ and as I read a new version began to form in my mind. I speculated on the wolf’s motives for choosing to use disguise to go among the sheep and I concluded it must be an end in itself. That is, the trick is the gratification sought, more than hearty ovine meal; the trick asserts dominance over these foolish animals. I recalled I had written two previous version and no doubt published notes on these adventures. I went back to read those notes and, lo, I had come to the same conclusion. (I am consistent, at least.) The new version takes this idea of dominance even further.

I set out with the idea of the wolf blowing the whistle on its own presence in the flock. The disguise is so good the other sheep do not realise. Before they do, the wolf, posing as the wisest among them, the one who had seen the danger, convinces them that the shepherd has failed and moreover represents more serious danger to the sheep than the wolf. They are all destined for the slaugherhouse, it claims.

I won’t give away the ending. You’ll have to read the full text for that: ‘A Wolf in Shepherd’s Clothing