I Wish I Were You; Maybe Not, I'll Just Be Me - No. 91. The Horse and the Ass - The Essential Aesop? - Back to Basics Abridgment Series
Gregg Zegarelli Esq.
Managing Shareholder at Technology & Entrepreneurial Ventures Law Group, PC
"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." ~ Leonardo da Vinci (Adopted by Steve Jobs)
________________________
A War Horse?and an Ass?travelled together.?The Horse pranced along in its fine trappings, the Ass dutifully carrying with difficulty a heavy load.?
“Oh, I wish?I were you,” sighed the Ass.?
The next day, however, there was a battle, and the Horse was wounded to death.?The Ass happened to pass by shortly afterwards and found the Horse at the point of death. “I was wrong,” said the Ass, “I would rather live humbly?and carry the load.”
Moral of the Story: Each thing has its respective natural attributes, and it is foolish to think that we can take one attribute from other thing for ourselves without all the natural appurtenances of that attribute.
________________________
Introduction ?- The Essential Aesop -?Epilogue
Related Articles: The Distinguished Napoleon - The Business of Aesop? No. 2 - The Frog and the Ox ; Self-Validation and Envy - No. 2. The Frog and the Ox - The Essential Aesop? - Back to Basics Abridgment Series ; Be Yourself - No. 73. The Ass in the Lion's Skin - The Essential Aesop? - Back to Basics Abridgment Series ; Vigilance for the Exception - No. 81. The One-Eyed Doe - The Essential Aesop? - Back to Basics Abridgment Series ; Consistency and Incremental Success - No. 82. The Tortoise and the Hare - The Essential Aesop? - Back to Basics Abridgment Series
________________________
Why We Loved It:??To understand this fable more completely, we might temporarily substitute the Ass with another horse or foal. Why? Because another horse has plausible potentiality to the state of the War Horse that the Ass does not; that is, another horse might, with conditioning, actually be able to achieve a desired goal of becoming a war horse. But, alas, allusions of Donkey as a Noble Steed in Shrek aside, the Ass does not have plausible potentiality and cannot achieve the majesty of a War Horse no matter how dutifully the Ass might try.
Therefore, we might conclude that Aesop is not simply teaching a lesson on the risks of greatness. Indeed, Aesop could have used another horse for that lesson. That is, if you want to be a war horse, you have to risk a death by battle.
The use of the Ass tells us something more precise, because it introduces a new attribute: frustration of desire. Another horse could become a war horse, but the Ass cannot. Frustration is the inability to achieve a desire by external constraint. The need to drink water is frustrated by the lack of water. Here the Ass's desire to be a war horse is frustrated by the simple fact that the Ass is a donkey, not a horse.
Why would Aesop teach about frustration of desire as part of his wisdom fables? For a reason similar to collateral breathing exercises in yoga relative to stretching exercises: frustrated desire intrudes on wise decision-making like failing to breath intrudes on stretching.
We are not told in the story any regret in the War Horse, such as is often the case in the Fables. For example, the lesson coming from the Horse, "Alas, I sought glory by war and now I am doomed by it." That is a different lesson, not expressly taught in this fable. And, the fact is that some things are naturally attracted to competition and war-like conditions—offensive as it is to many, some people might actually love of the smell of napalm in the morning.
To make his point more clearly, Aesop casts wisdom against type. Here the concentration of the lesson is in the ironic ex post facto clarity achieved by the Ass, such as, "It was foolish of me to desire to be something I am not, and something that I can never become. To be frustrated and thereby unhappy in my existence by a desire that cannot be satisfied. To the War Horse those attributes that must be, and to me the attributes that must be. To everyone, each their own. I will be me, my best me, no one but me."
"If all misfortunes were laid in one common heap whence everyone must take an equal portion, most people would be contented to take their own and depart." ~ Socrates
"I wish, I wished, I wished I were, someone else to be. But the more I looked, the more I found, that, then, I couldn't be me." ~grz
"All that glisters is not gold—Often have you heard that told. Many a man his life hath sold, But my outside to behold. Gilded tombs do worms enfold. Had you been as wise as bold, Young in limbs, in judgment old, Your answer had not been inscrolled. Fare you well. Your suit is cold." ~ Shakespeare , Merchant of Venice, Act II Scene 7
*?Gregg Zegarelli , Esq., earned both his Bachelor of Arts Degree and his Juris Doctorate from Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His dual major areas of study were History from the College of Liberal Arts and Accounting from the Business School (qualified to sit for the CPA examination), with dual minors in Philosophy and Political Science. He has enjoyed Adjunct Professorships in the Duquesne University Graduate Leadership Master Degree Program (The Leader as Entrepreneur; Developing Leadership Character Through Adversity) and the University of Pittsburgh Law School (The Anatomy of a Deal). He is admitted to various courts throughout the United States of America.
Gregg Zegarelli , Esq.,?is Managing Shareholder of?Technology & Entrepreneurial Ventures Law Group, PC .?Gregg is nationally rated as "superb" and has more than 35 years of experience working with entrepreneurs and companies of all sizes, including startups,?INC. 500, and publicly traded companies.?He is author of?One: The Unified Gospel of Jesus ,?and?The Business of Aesop ? article series, and co-author with his father,?Arnold Zegarelli , of?The Essential Aesop: For Business, Managers, Writers and Professional Speakers .?Gregg is a frequent lecturer, speaker and faculty for a variety of educational and other institutions.?
? 2013 Arnold Zegarelli? and?Gregg Zegarelli, Esq. ?Gregg can be contacted through?LinkedIn .?Arnold Zegarelli ?can be contacted through?Facebook .
#GreggZegarelli #Aesop #Wisdom #Zegarelli #Aesop_Ass #Aesop_Donkey #Aesop_Horse #Aesop_Mule #Aesop_WarHorse #Shrek #Frustration #Desire #Potential #PlausiblePotentiality #Risk #Unhappiness #RiskAssessment #IsItWorthIt #Happiness #BusinessOfAesop #TheEssentialAesop #TheEssentialAesop_91 #GRZ_98_91