Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Boy Bathing

What is a fable? A fable is a very brief tale which is used to make a point. These tales often include supernatural happenings, but not always. Nevertheless, we often place the word fable within the ranks of the fairy tale elite. And that is fine.

Surely the most important contribution to fables came from a mysterious man named Aesop. I say mysterious because there is very little we know about this person. He lived in the good old days of Ancient Greece in and around 600 B.C. It is entirely conceivable that the man never lived at all and that his stories are merely the works of a number of people who all shared a clever wit. Even so, he was accredited with all of these tales so that they might have a face behind them. These stories are popular to this day and surprisingly relevant.

I do intend to use these spotlights to cover a wide array of Aesop's Fables over time. I consider them to be important in the extreme as to their universal depictions of morality within the human condition. They are perfect examples of how nothing has really changed in all of history. Humans are humans and time has done nothing to improve or evolve us in any way. The more and more you look into Aesop, you will come to understand how true this really is.

Very well. Let us have a look at "The Boy Bathing." Because of the fable's brevity, I see no reason why I should not simply give you the direct text rather than merely summarizing it. The fable ran as follows:

A boy bathing in a river was in danger of being drowned. He called out to a passing traveler for help, but instead of holding out a helping hand, the man stood by unconcernedly, and scolded the boy for his imprudence. “Oh, sir!” cried the youth, “pray help me now and scold me afterwards.”

A moral is sometimes listed along with a fable. In the case of "The Boy Bathing," the moral is listed as "Counsel without help is useless." And so ends the fable.

"The Boy Bathing" is a story that is entirely grounded in reality, yet the circumstances seem greatly forced. The older gentleman really does seem fairly idiotic for making speeches while the boy is clearly in the process of drowning. This is what a fable does. It is a simple A + B = C structure. The drowning boy (representing A) is approached by an idiotic man (representing the B). They are forced together by authorial destiny to equal C (the moral.) Fables are, more often than not, extremely forced so that the point of it is as clear as possible. You must relate to it or else the fable has failed in its duty to convince you of anything.

This particular fable ridicules people who tend to argue more than assist. There are people out there who are very quick to speak but not act. Talking without actions is usually indicative of an out-of-control ego. One may consider himself wise and wish to assist others by correcting them. But they do this from atop of a rock where no man can join him. The others must stay below and be miserable while the man atop claims that it is simply unfortunate that they did not climb on top of their own rock. It would have benefited them to do so. Meanwhile, he is not making any effort to actually help them up onto his own rock.

Everyone has an opinion as well as the right to have one. But opinions, in truth, are very worthless things. Speaking them is also worthless. Action is the only things anyone can be truly accredited with. We can only judge a man by his actions. A man's wisdom is also suspect unless there are actions to back it up. There is nothing good about a man who talks and talks and does nothing at all to back those words up.

As to the boy in the story, he is portrayed, at first, as a wayward juvenile that got himself into a bad situation. To err is human, yes? The boy made a mistake and found himself in a terrible spot. He needed help. Perhaps he was ready to make amends for his foolishness, or perhaps not. Whatever the case, he needed help. What he did not need was a speech. When someone is desperate and raise their hand up to others, the correct response is to take their hand. If they continually find themselves in a  likewise predicament, it may perhaps be best to ignore them. Personal judgement is key in cases like these. We have to make them at the time they occur and not plan them out in one way or another. I have never advocated living life by a set of rules. Simply be who you are and act with the best of intentions. Personal intentions have nothing to do with rules.

There are people out there who spend their whole lives destroying themselves. Whether it be an innocent first time or a repetitious deliberate action, they do not need others scolding them. You either help them or leave them to their fate. The actions or lack there of is the only thing that matters. And that is really what I got from this story. In every way, the old man was in the wrong. He spoke out of ego purely. It was all about him. And that is why he was cast as the villain regardless of the unknown character of the boy.

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