Summary

One man and two woman in front of a hundred children tell, dramatize, and enact ten fables including stories from Aesop, the Talmud, James Thurber and Ambrose Bierce and ask the children to tell the moral lesson they derive from each. 1957. One man and two woman in front of a hundred children tell, dramatize, and enact 10 fables including stories from Aesop, the Talmud, Thurber and Ambrose Bierce and ask the children to tell the moral lesson they derive from each. The actors are excellent, the program is charming, 1:35 INTRO: MacAndrew enlightens us that the fable is a moral or proverb pleasantly dressed up and representing the wisdom of many ages. 1:35 STORY 1: Aesop's Frog and the Ox. A mother tries to explain what an ox is to her child. She blows herself up until she bursts. Kids say the moral is, "Don't try to be bigger than you are." 2:40 STORY 2: The Snake from the Talmud. The tail wants to be the head and the head of the snake lets it. Moral: Don't lead if you can't see. The story -teller adds, "It's important to have good followers." 2:15 STORY 3: Aesop's Sick Lion and the Fox. Moral: "Fools rush in…" and "Entrance is easier than exit." 1:15 STORY 4: Aesop's The Crow and the Fox. Moral: Don't listen to flattery. 2:20 STORY 5: Thurber's version of The Crow and the Fox. Here the crow outwits the fox by giving him the food he wants voluntarily. Moral: No one else can praise thee so well as thou. 1:45 STORY 6: A milkmaid carrying eggs to market spends the money she thinks she's going to get for the eggs. She gets carried away and drops the eggs. Moral: Don't count chickens before they hatch. 3:00 STORY 7: Aesop's Country Mouse and Town Mouse. The man reads and the two actresses act out the story. Moral: Stay where you belong: if raised in the country stay there. 2:30 STORY 8: This is an ant fable with a moral about there being no rights of property in primitive society. 2:00 STORY 9: Thurber's Fable of the Tiger Who Would Be King of Beasts. A tiger and a lion fight for the title of king of beasts, all the animals from Aardvark to Zebra join in the fracas, half fighting for the old order, the other for the new order. In the end only the tiger survives. He becomes king. Moral: You can't be king of beasts if there aren't any. 2:45 STORY 10 Thurber's Unicorn and Roses. A man tells his wife that there is a unicorn in the garden. The wife calls the police and a psychiatrist to take him away. The police and psychiatrist take the wife away as the man disavows ever having said such a thing. Moral: Don't count your boobies until they are hatched.