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Topic: A Fable (Read 1303 times) |
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Walpurgis
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A Fable
« on: 2002-06-16 03:27:30 » |
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Prince Llywelyn once received a greyhound from King John, and the hound soon became his favorite. Faithful as any hound had ever been, and gentle as a lamb, the hound was also a lion at the chase. One day, Llywelyn prepared to leave on the hunt, he gave call to his noble hound with his hunting horn. All his other hounds came at the call, but not his faithful Gelert.
Llywelyn could wait no longer, and so left on his hunt. When Llywelyn returned to his castle, who should be waiting to greet him but Gelert! As the hound bounded closer to greet him, Llywelyn was startled to notice that Gelert's lips and fangs were covered with blood. Now Price Llywelyn had a son, barely a year old, and as Llywelyn recalled how Gelert and his young son used to play together, a terrible thought came to his mind. He rushed to his son's nursery, only to find the cradle overturned and the sheets covered in blood.
Llywelyn looked frantically for his son, but couldn't find him anywhere, only the evidence of much blood and a struggle within the nursery. Turning to Gelert, whose muzzle was still wet with blood, Llywelyn came into a great rage and cried, "Thou hast killed my only son!", and drew his sword and drove it into the side of the hound. Gelert yelped once and with a sorrowful look into Llywelyn's eyes, died at his master's feet.
At the sound of Gelert's last yelp, there was a small cry from beneath the overturned cradle. When Llywelyn righted it, who should he find beneath it but his small son, safe and unharmed, and as well the torn and bloodied body of a huge wolf. Too late Llywelyn discovered what had really happened while he was away. Gelert had stayed behind to guard the child, and had fought and slain the wolf that had crept into the nursery.
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David Lucifer
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Enlighten me.
 
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Re:A Fable
« Reply #1 on: 2002-06-20 01:17:17 » |
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I think I know the moral of the story, but why don't you tell us.
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Walpurgis
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Re:A Fable
« Reply #2 on: 2002-06-20 04:59:58 » |
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I posted this fable because I've always liked it nad it moved me.
There are several morals I suppose. The ones I've been able to see are:
It is a fable which illustrates the lack of faith/respect we have for our animal friends.
It is a fable which illustrates the problems of capital punishment.
Relatedly, it also illustrates the problems of revenge and/or acting in a state of anger and/or ignorance of a situation without assessing a situation as much as you feasibly can.
With regards to the latter points, it seems a pertinent fable for a rationalist religion like CoV.
Anything I missed?
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rhinoceros
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My point is ...
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Re:A Fable
« Reply #3 on: 2002-06-20 06:47:22 » |
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Well, jumping to conclusions seems worse when you do an irreversible action.
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David Lucifer
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Enlighten me.
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Re:A Fable
« Reply #4 on: 2002-06-20 15:36:05 » |
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I drew roughly the same moral as rhinoceros: Avoid committing potentially regrettable actions whilst not in your right mind.
Why didn't Llywelyn look under the overturned cradle? And how did the body of a huge wolf fit under the cradle?
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rhinoceros
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My point is ...
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Re:A Fable
« Reply #5 on: 2002-06-20 16:32:25 » |
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[David]
Why didn't Llywelyn look under the overturned cradle? And how did the body of a huge wolf fit under the cradle?
[rhinoceros]
Why didn't he look under the overturned cradle? My guess is that his conclusion was one of those which require immediate action (lips and fangs covered with blood etc). Maybe fear.
How did the body of a huge wolf fit under the cradle? A strange question to ask. Now that I think of it, the story teller may have missed some of the plot behind the scenes.
So, the next moral would be an argument against phenomenology.
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