Once upon a time the animals decided they
must do something heroic to meet the
problems of a “new world” so they organized a
school. They had adopted an activity
curriculum consisting of running, climbing,
swimming and flying. To make it easier to
administer the curriculum, all the animals
took all the subjects.
The duck was excellent in swimming. In fact,
better than his instructor. But he made only
passing grades in flying and was very poor in
running. Since he was slow in running, he had
to stay after school and also drop swimming
in order to practice running. This was kept up
until his webbed feet were badly worn and he
was only average in swimming.
But average was acceptable in school so nobody
worried about that, except the duck.
The rabbit started at the top of the class in running but had a nervous breakdown
because of so much makeup work in swimming.
The squirrel was excellent in climbing until he developed frustration in the flying
class where his teacher made him start from the ground up instead of the treetop
down. He also developed a “charlie horse” from overexertion and then got a C in
climbing and D in running.
The eagle was a problem child and was disciplined severely. In the climbing class, he beat all the others to the top of the tree but insisted on using his own way to get there.
At the end of the year, an abnormal eel that could swim exceeding well and also
run, climb and fly a little had the highest average and was valedictorian.
The prairie dogs stayed out of school and fought the tax levy because the
administration would not add digging and burrowing to the curriculum. They
apprenticed their children to a badger and later joined the groundhogs and
gophers to start a successful private school.
Does this fable have a moral?
