Misadventures in the Land of Fables #71
I read somewhere that among the earliest extant fables was one entitled ‘The Elephant and the Wren.’ I was intrigued. The elephant is a stalwart of Middle-Eastern folk literature, but the wren? What was it up to four thousand years ago, I wondered? What did wrens mean to the Ancients. I went a-looking and found a pdf of proverbs, or fragments of proverbs, translated from cuniform tablets dating back to at least 1500 BCE, from either the Akkadian or Sumerian, I’m not sure. I think that’s all there is,.
‘The Elephant and The Wren‘ appears in two versions, a short dialogue, no more than an exchange of words.
“The elephant spoke to himself: “There is nothing like me among all the creatures of Cakkan!” The wren answered him: “But I, in my own small way, was created just as you were!” The elephant spoke to himself: “Among all the creatures of Cakkan, the one that can defecate like me has yet to be created!” The wren answered him: “But I, in my own small way, can defecate just as much as you!”
I laughed out loud at the talent the elephant chose to boast about. Really? Are the dung production abilities of elephants so renowned? I mean, yes, I’m not going to argue. And yet, is that what makes you special? Is that the best you can do? Is that it? It could be the work is incomplete. My guess is these are two versions of the same fable, the second being an earthier variation, so to speak. As presented, I read them as a progession, with the elephant responding to the wren’s challenge, and this for me pointed to a missing third beat in the narrative. A conclusion. This got me thinking.
I have provided the ‘missing’ beat here: ‘The Elephant and the Wren‘
Much as I am fond of elephants, the boastfulness of this one, and the pride it took in its own shit, reminded me of a certain political figure whose relationship with truth is one of contempt. Perhaps I should have changed the animal from elephant to bull. Later iterations of this theme, of large beast encountering smaller creature, do make that change to a bull, or a camel (!), while the creature becomes something smaller and less charming, an insect, a gnat, a flea or a mosquito. Thus the fable makes it way from Babylon to Ancient Greece, and through to us, via Babrius. (You can read a number of versions here)
“A gnat settled on the horn of a Bull, and sat there a long time. Just as he was about to fly off, he made a buzzing noise, and inquired of the Bull if he would like him to go. The Bull replied, ‘I did not know you had come, and I shall not miss you when you go away.’ Some men are of more consequence in their own eyes than in the eyes of their neighbors.”
Curious that the later fables grant the big beast its elevated status and the little one becomes an impertinence, the so-called impertient insect.
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