X-Message-Number: 1643
Date: 19 Jan 93 13:43:47 EST
From: Charles Platt <>
Subject: CRYONICS Fable
To: Cryonet
Normally I never write fiction unless I'm getting paid for
it. But the three recent postings from Mike Darwin tempted me
to concoct the following fable.
Of necessity, this fable is somewhat simplified and should
not be taken as an exact model of reality. Many key events
and characters have been omitted.
ANIMAL CIRCUS
There was once a small, low-rent circus that tottered on the
brink of bankruptcy. This circus was unusual in that it was
run entirely by the animals, without any human supervision.
The star attraction of the circus was a wily wolf who had
practiced his tricks with fanatical dedication ever since he
was a young cub. He had the circus in his blood, and he was a
great performer, which made some of the animals secretly
jealous. On the other hand, they knew that audiences came to
the circus partly because they had heard about the amazing
things that the wolf could do; so the animals put up with the
wolf as well as they could, because without him, the circus
might go out of business.
Unfortunately, the wolf was not a modest fellow. He was well
aware of his importance, and made no secret of it. Also, he
complained very loudly if everything wasn't "just so." This
was very irritating, especially to a bear and a tiger, who
felt the wolf was too much of a prima donna for their liking,
One day, the wolf started growling at everyone (which he
tended to do from time to time). He complained that the cages
were dirty, the seats for the spectators were unsafe, the
posters that the circus put up around town described some
tricks which could not actually be performed, and the the
turtle who supervised the finances was cooking the books. In
disgust, the wolf walked out of the circus and went away on
his own to a lair by the river which had been loaned to him
by a friendly beaver.
"So let him go," said the bear. "He's a wonderful fellow, and
personally I admire him immensely, but maybe we're better off
without him."
"He's a vainglorious, two-faced troublemaker," said the
tiger. "He's more of a liability to this circus than an
asset. Look how moody he is! Remember the times he bit some
of the animals who didn't do their tricks right? There was no
call for that. I've been practicing on my own, and I've
already mastered most of his techniques. I'll get us even
bigger audiences, wait and see."
The rest of the animals weren't so sure. Still, the wolf said
he wasn't coming back, so there wasn't much they could do
about it.
The circus continued. Some people asked where the wolf had
gone, and two customers asked for refunds. But the circus was
still the best show in town, so it looked as if it would
weather the storm.
Meanwhile, the wolf was happy in his lair. But a passing
carrier pigeon told him that the animals back at the circus
were talking about him behind his back, belittling his
abilities and maligning his character. This hurt the wolf's
pride and upset his sense of justice, so he went and sat by
the circus one night and made a terrible howling noise that
disrupted the performance that was going on inside the tent.
Then the wolf went back to his lair and wasn't seen again.
But the bear and the tiger didn't trust him to stay out of
the way, and they were mad as hell about the howling. "I've
always admired the fellow, myself," the bear said. "And I
believe it's time we put all our differences behind us.
However, in view of his recent behavior, I say, let's go get
him!"
"Now you're talking!" said the tiger. So they went to the
wolf's lair, hunkered down outside, and started snarling at
him, poking him with a long pointed stick, and making nasty
comments about him and his relatives.
The commotion attracted a lot of other animals, who gathered
around to watch. For a long time, the wolf refused to respond
in any way. But finally he was jabbed so hard, he leaped out,
grabbed the stick, broke it in half, bit the bear on the leg
and the neck, and sank his teeth into the tiger's tail,
before they even knew what had happened. "There!" he growled.
"I'm still faster and meaner than both of you put together.
You should have had enough sense to let sleeping dogs lie!"
-------------------------------------------------------------
There's no ending and no moral to this story, because it
isn't over yet. However, we do have a mid-term examination.
1. Which of the animals acted most sensibly: the wolf, the
bear, or the tiger?
2. What should the other animals do, as a group, if their aim
is to stop the circus from going bankrupt?
3. Is there anything that the audience can do, if they want
the animals to put on a good show and stop snarling at each
other?
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