The Clog from OzAesop's fables - the cat and the mice
April 25th 2006 23:08
“He who is once deceived is doubly cautious” - An Aesop Fable
I used to absolutely love reading these fables as a kid. Dad had this old, thick book with ‘Aesop’s Fables’ in one half and ‘Arabian Nights’ in the other, (although, I never bothered to read that story!).
Aesop lived around 600BC and wrote many fables with morals that are still used today. This quote is also known as “Once bitten, twice shy”. In Aesop’s particular fable, this moral fits a story where mice who are running around a house are pursued by a cat, and some are eaten (‘once bitten’) so then the mice run into their holes to hide (‘twice shy’). Here, the mice’s fear - and hence their action in taking to their holes - is double the threat.
You can relate the quote to more humanly situations. For example, I walked through this particular park once and got swooped by a magpie, so now every time I go back I look up and wave my arms around because I’m scared I’ll get attacked again (even though it is Autumn! But don’t get me started on magpies…). This quote is telling us that we retaliate twofold (or in most cases, more) when threatened by something. It’s no doubt a survival mechanism to ensure our safety.
Depiction of Aesop from the Nuremberg Chronicle, year 1493.
I used to absolutely love reading these fables as a kid. Dad had this old, thick book with ‘Aesop’s Fables’ in one half and ‘Arabian Nights’ in the other, (although, I never bothered to read that story!).
Aesop lived around 600BC and wrote many fables with morals that are still used today. This quote is also known as “Once bitten, twice shy”. In Aesop’s particular fable, this moral fits a story where mice who are running around a house are pursued by a cat, and some are eaten (‘once bitten’) so then the mice run into their holes to hide (‘twice shy’). Here, the mice’s fear - and hence their action in taking to their holes - is double the threat.
You can relate the quote to more humanly situations. For example, I walked through this particular park once and got swooped by a magpie, so now every time I go back I look up and wave my arms around because I’m scared I’ll get attacked again (even though it is Autumn! But don’t get me started on magpies…). This quote is telling us that we retaliate twofold (or in most cases, more) when threatened by something. It’s no doubt a survival mechanism to ensure our safety.
| 52 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
