The Lion and the Ox
Omar Malas
AAPTIS 381
Professor Legassick
Kalila wa Dimna The Lion and the Ox is a one of the oldest and most popular pieces of classic Arabic literature. Originally from India, this animal fable is famous for its inclusion of many other animal fables, each of which help provide the characters of the story with advice regarding their situation. Unlike The Arabian Nights, which also uses a frame tale that contains each tale, multiple animals share their wisdom with one another. The wisdom of the story’s two main characters, Kalila and Dimna, help foreshadow and motivate the events of the frame tale and bring it to a reasonable yet tragic conclusion. Kalila, one of the two main jackals of the frame tale, is living in the court of the king, a lion who rules an area described as, “a broad meadow adorned with all manner of succulent grasses and aromatic herbs, such as the Garden of Eden itself would have bit the finger of envy to behold” (Arberry 76). Kalila is happy with his place in society; he is fed well and feels safe from harm. His fellow jackal, Dimna, does not share his same contentment. Realizing the potential power he could have were he to rise through the ranks of the king’s court, Dimna hatches a plan and consults with Kalila. Being the realist in their friendship, Kalila advises against this, telling him the comical story of the monkey and the carpenter (Arberry). To summarize, the carpenter is attempting to split a log. Using a system of two pegs, he sits on the log, hitting one peg with a hammer while the other holds the log open, then leaves the peg in the log and removes the other one previously idle to hit it with the hammer. When the carpenter leaves, the monkey decides to attempt the same job, sitting himself on the log. As he does this, his testicles rest in the split of the log. Not realizing exactly how the peg system works, the monkey removes the peg holding the log open, causing the log to close on his testicles. When the carpenter hears
AAPTIS 381
Professor Legassick
Kalila wa Dimna The Lion and the Ox is a one of the oldest and most popular pieces of classic Arabic literature. Originally from India, this animal fable is famous for its inclusion of many other animal fables, each of which help provide the characters of the story with advice regarding their situation. Unlike The Arabian Nights, which also uses a frame tale that contains each tale, multiple animals share their wisdom with one another. The wisdom of the story’s two main characters, Kalila and Dimna, help foreshadow and motivate the events of the frame tale and bring it to a reasonable yet tragic conclusion. Kalila, one of the two main jackals of the frame tale, is living in the court of the king, a lion who rules an area described as, “a broad meadow adorned with all manner of succulent grasses and aromatic herbs, such as the Garden of Eden itself would have bit the finger of envy to behold” (Arberry 76). Kalila is happy with his place in society; he is fed well and feels safe from harm. His fellow jackal, Dimna, does not share his same contentment. Realizing the potential power he could have were he to rise through the ranks of the king’s court, Dimna hatches a plan and consults with Kalila. Being the realist in their friendship, Kalila advises against this, telling him the comical story of the monkey and the carpenter (Arberry). To summarize, the carpenter is attempting to split a log. Using a system of two pegs, he sits on the log, hitting one peg with a hammer while the other holds the log open, then leaves the peg in the log and removes the other one previously idle to hit it with the hammer. When the carpenter leaves, the monkey decides to attempt the same job, sitting himself on the log. As he does this, his testicles rest in the split of the log. Not realizing exactly how the peg system works, the monkey removes the peg holding the log open, causing the log to close on his testicles. When the carpenter hears
Cited: Arberry, A.J. Aspects of Islamic Civilization. 2nd ed. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, 1971. Print.