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Washington, United States
loves: you win if you guessed "pets" and "museums". Also books, art history, travel, British punk, Korean kimchi, bindis, martinis, and other things TBD. I will always make it very clear if a post is sponsored in any way. Drop me a line at thepetmuseum AT gmail.com !

Monday, October 13, 2014

a dog teaches us to beware greed

thanks wikimedia commons.  PD:US
In the ancient Indian collection of animal fables known (among other things) as Kaliliah wa Dimnah, the story of the dog who lost his bone to greed is mentioned.  It seems to be related to the fable by Aesop, in which a dog trots along with a bone in his mouth, but when he nears the water he sees a reflection of himself.  Thinking it's another dog with a bone for the taking, he opens his mouth to snap - and plunk goes the bone, leaving our covetous fellow with nothing to show for his aggression.  I did not find any source info for this image, though it's clearly from an illuminated manuscript.  I'm sharing it anyway as it's a perfect example of how dogs provide illustration of a cultural lesson, and besides, it is graceful and beautiful for a Monday.

1 comment:

The Creative Cat said...

Kind of like the fox and the grapes. Those tales are very old!