A Stag drinking at a clear pool, admired the handsome look of his spreading antlers, but was much displeased at the slim and ungainly appearance of his legs. “What a glorious pair of branching horns!” said he. “How grace fully they hang over my forehead! What an agreeable air they give my face! But as for my spindle-shanks of legs, I am heartily ashamed of them.” The words were scarcely out of his mouth, when he saw some huntsmen and a pack of hounds making towards him. His despised legs soon placed him at a distance from his followers, but, on entering the forest, his horns got entangled at every turn, so that the dogs soon reached him and made an end of him. “Mistaken fool that I was!” he exclaimed; “had it not been for these wretched horns my legs would have saved my life.”
Exposition
by William C. Michael
In this fable, we read of a “stag”, that is an adult male deer. This stag is drinking at a pool, where he sees his image reflected in the water. He was pleased with the appearance of his head, crowned with his great horns. However, when he looked down and saw his legs, he was not happy. He did not like the way God designed him. He liked his horns because they made him appear impressive, but his legs were embarassing.
As he stood grumbling against the wisdom of the Creator, he heard his enemies upon him. He immediately darted out of the pool and into the forest. He would have escaped as usual, being saved by his lean and agile legs, but he needed to learn a lesson the hard way on this day. The horns that he believed were desirable got caught in the brush and thorns of the forest and the slower hunters were able to catch him. His legs had worked to save his life, but his horns cost him his life.
What is the moral of this fable?
The moral of this fable is explained by the words of Proverbs 3:5: “Have confidence in the Lord with all thy heart, and lean not upon thy own prudence.” The stag in this fable thought that he knew what was good for him and that His Creator did not. This foolish thought cost him his life.
Why has Aesop chosen these characters?
Aesop chose the stag to teach this moral because deer are blessed with an amazing ability to escape trouble by running and leaping. Deer were not designed to fight against their enemies, but to simply get away from them. In contrast to this, hunters on horses that are great and heavy, using dogs to pursue their prizes, have little chance against deer. If the deer flee, they cannot catch them. (It’s important to remember that there were no guns when Aesop wrote this fable.) The horns of the deer represent the deceitful appearance of the body, while the legs represent the necessary powers that God has given us by His own wisdom and goodness.
Sources
- Aesop’s Fables. (1878). Google Books. https://books.google.nl/books?id=yyxDAQAAMAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=Aesop+fables+illustrated&pg=PR5&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
