There are cages made of iron. And then there are cages with comfortable chairs. Those are harder to recognize. Aesop tells of a king with one beloved son, a young man fond of martial exercises and presumably quite capable of finding trouble […]
There was once a donkey who carried bags of salt for a merchant. Every day, the merchant loaded the salt across his back, and every day the donkey carried it along the same road and through the same stream. One […]
Heavy rain came hard enough to swell the stream and carry away whatever lay too close to its banks. A heap of apples went first. Then a pile of horse dung. Downstream they floated together, bobbing in the same current, […]
Jupiter was assigning duties and privileges to the gods. One by one they came forward and received their portion. Then Grief arrived late. By then, there was nothing left to give her. So Jupiter assigned Grief the tears shed for the […]
The Visits That Changed Everything An elderly woman lived alone in a modest cottage where every object held the memory of a life well lived. Time, however, had begun to steal her eyesight. The hearth blurred into shadow. Shelves […]
When the Sky Became the Road Long ago, during a dry summer, a small pond began to disappear. Day after day, the water sank lower. The reeds browned. The mud cracked beneath the afternoon sun. Fish had long since […]
Two Bags for Every Traveler There is an old fable that says every person begins life with two bags. One hangs in front, where it is easy to see. It is filled with the faults of everyone else. The other […]
The Stall Beside His Own A donkey lived in the stable beside a celebrated war horse. Each morning the horse received careful attention. His coat was brushed until it shone. Fresh grain filled his manger. Stable hands inspected his hooves, […]
The One Who Brings Winter Long before winter was measured by calendars, people spoke of the Cailleach. They said she walked the high places—over mountain ridges, frozen moors, and stone that no longer yielded beneath the frost. Wherever she […]
