h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The traditional fable, fairy story, myth, legand, or parable, all have their genesis in antiquity and far beyond the written word. They were a form of social education that applied to all layers within society and not solely, as suggested in this article, to the 'common' people. Furthermore, anyone with the slightest degree of perception will readily detect the tales that Hans Anderson devised himself to those that have their basis in folk lore.

In the Penguin book of Aesop's Fables translated by SA Hanford he presumes to be an authority on this subject yet manifestly he is ignorant of the analogism existing within the tales. For example, in the fable about Zeus and The Tortoise he concludes that its meaning is simply 'home is best' while its translation has a more panoramic and poignant social meaning. Equally, it is apparent that many of the tales credited today to those of Aesop's are from other sources that have accreted, over the centuries, around those fables.

I recall reading a book of Aesop's fables, intended for children, in which excerpts of Aesop's fables were also illustrated by paintings by a Japanese artist and writer in which he had the audacity to write his own peurile tale alongside that of Aesop's believing that his had a similar meaning. All that it conveyed was his ignorance and that too of the publication's editor and publisher's readers. If it was ever to be read by children it would serve only to confuse but those feeble, misunderstood stories, may one day become absorbed into traditional literature through default!

The greatest of all fairy tales (using the term in its generic sense) is, of course, that of the bible with its womaniser, the angel Gabriel! The biblical tales possess more guidance on social dynamics than they do about anything heavenly. Anyone prepared to dispute this viewpoint then I have a seaside cottage for sale in the town centre of Northampton! The writer of the article questioned if there existed evidence of a massive conspiracy; he evidently overlooked the bible edited by the late King James V111 and his cohorts, and propagated by propagandist within the cloisters of the church and academe.

I sometimes wonder if the Piped Piper or the Wizard Of Oz are a modern fables and that too of Alice In Wonderland although this latter tale possesses sexual inuenda that's not readily apparent to most educationists! Even the one sentenced wisdoms of the legendary and late Dr Samuel Johnson possessed the anagolisms that are found in fables and fairy stories; for example, when he observed that 'scoundrels hide behind patriotism'; how true and how simple to understand, yet he was not referring solely to the love of one's country!

An interesting subject with its roots deep in antiquity.

Regarding the above comment; as I cannot see any way to correcting mistakes then obviously I got my King James's and Henry's mixed; the line about the bible should have read King James 1 & V1. The term 'Piped Piper' should obviously have been written 'Pied Piper'! (I hope there's no more that are so obvious)!