A modern day fable

Posted in Old blogger by Twenty Major on July 18th, 2006

Once upon a time there was a little pig. He lived in land which was given to him after a great battle.

Unfortunately this land was taken away from a goat, a cow and duck-billed platypus. None of the animals could ever agree about anything. One day one of them was standing too close to the fence of the other, the next one would complain that the smell of the other’s poo was too strong, the day after there would be complaints about the loudness of somebody’s plaintive mooing.

After a while though the goat, the cow and the duck-billed platypus began to gang up on the pig.

They taunted poor old piggy mercilessly.

“You stinking pink cunt”, they’d shout over the fence. “You’re good for nothing but eating swill and rolling around and oinking a lot.”

The pig had broad shoulders though and he was able to ignore their insults. Then they moved up a gear and began attacks on his land.

The cow would propel his mighty cow pats causing horrific damage. The goat would sneak onto the pig’s land and munch important documents and occasionally the odd piglet while the duck-billed platypus would fill urns with his urine and use a crop sprayer to drench the pig’s land with his rancid juice.

But the pig was stoic and he carried on with his normal life as best as he could.

The others, enraged at the pig’s ability to ignore their best efforts, decided they had to go further so they would kidnap the pig, torture him and hold him hostage for months at a time before releasing him back home. He tried to improve his fence and security but the cunning of the goat, the brute strength of the cow and the tactical military planning of the duck-billed platypus was too much. As soon as he’d recover they’d kidnap and torture him again.

The pig was able to withstand many things but even a creature as phlegmatic as he had a breaking point. He knew he needed help and although he didn’t have too many friends in the region he had one confidante that would help him.

“Eagle”, said the pig, “I am selfless and forbearing but this is becoming too much for me. What can I do?”

The eagle, a wise and noble creature, considered for a while before speaking.

“Pig”, he said. “Suffering and joy teach us, if we allow them, how to make the leap of empathy, which transports us into the soul and heart of another person. ln those transparent moments we know other people’s joys and sorrows, and we care about their concerns as if they were our own. Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.”

“I see”, said the pig. “And I understand but this situation is too much for me now. I just don’t know what to do.”

“But there is suffering in life, and there are defeats. No one can avoid them. But it’s better to lose some of the battles in the struggles for your dreams than to be defeated without ever knowing what you’re fighting for”, the eagle replied.

“Erm…”, said the pig.

“What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him. What he needs is not the discharge of tension at any cost, but the call of a potential meaning waiting to be fulfilled by him”, said the eagle.

“That’s all well and good, eagle, but they are kidnapping me, torturing me, holding me illegally against my will”, cried the pig.

“Oh for fuck’s sake Pig”, said the eagle, “just call Hamnesty International then.”