Versions Of Aesop's Fable 'Amplifying Fables'

Amplifying Fables

Stories can be told with few details or a lot. Consider the following two versions of the Aesop fable, “The Oak and the Reed.”

An oak that had been uprooted by a storm was carried down a river to the banks where many reeds were growing. The oak was astonished to see that things so slight and frail had withstood the storm when so great and strong a tree as he himself had been uprooted. *
“It’s really not amazing,” said a reed. “You were destroyed by fighting against the storm, while we survived by yielding and bending to the slightest breath that was blown.” from Aesop’s Fables, Edited by Jack Zipes, Signet Classic. 1992 P. 143.

A Giant Oak stood near a brook in which grew some slender Reeds. When
the wind blew, the great Oak stood proudly upright with its hundred arms uplifted to the sky. But the Reeds bowed low in the wind and sang a sad and mournful song. * “You have reason to complain,” said the Oak.
“The slightest breeze that ruffles the surface of the water makes you bow your heads, while I, the might Oak, stand upright and firm before the howling tempest.” * * “Do not worry about us,” replied the Reeds. “The winds do not harm us. We bow before them and so we do not break. You, in all your pride and strength, have so far resisted their blows. But the end is coming.” * * As the Reeds spoke a great hurricane rushed out of the north. The Oak stood proudly and fought against the storm, while the yielding Reeds bowed low. The wind redoubled in fury, and all at once the great tree fell, torn up by the roots, and lay among the pitying Reeds. from The Aesop for Children, Checkerboard Press. 1919. P.
28.

Questions

What details are in version II that are missing in version I?
What effect does the addition of details in version II have in the story?
Where is the “moral” inserted in each version? * *

* Assignment: Choose one of the Aesop fables below, and amplify it to at least twice the length by adding details and actions consistent with, though that do not belong to, the original version.
* * You need to produce a version that is approximately twice the length of the model you choose to amplify. The original word totals are given in parentheses after the title. (You “count” the words in your version by highlighting your text and noting the number of words in the bottom left panel of the Word screen.) * * While you may use a little dialogue, concentrate on adding details of description to the story, such as picturing the scene, the characters’ motivation and reactions, etc., much as in the given model. * * You are required to include at least two similes in your amplified version. * * * The Dog and the Shadow (87) * * A DOG, crossing a bridge over a stream with a piece of flesh in his mouth, saw his own shadow in the water and took it for that of another Dog, with a piece of meat double his own in size. He immediately let go of his own, and fiercely attacked the other Dog to get his larger piece from him. He thus lost both: that which he grasped at in the water, because it was a shadow; and his own, because the stream swept it
away. * * * The Ass and the Grasshopper (55) * * AN ASS having heard some Grasshoppers chirping, was highly enchanted; and, desiring to possess the same charms of melody, demanded what sort of food they lived on to give them such beautiful voices. They replied, "The dew." The Ass resolved that he would live only upon dew, and in a short time died of hunger. * * * The Lamb and the Wolf (56) * * A WOLF pursued a Lamb, which fled for refuge to a certain Temple. * The Wolf called out to him and said, "The Priest will slay you in * sacrifice, if he should catch you." On which the Lamb replied, * "It would be better for me to be sacrificed in the Temple than to * be eaten by you." *