There once was a greedy weasel who
sought to become the wealthiest creature in the forest. Every day, he would set
out in search of treasures and unsuspecting animals from whom he could steal.
When the weasel finally felt that he had acquired enough wealth, he decided to
visit the great oak tree that all of the other creatures liked to frequent. He
brought with him many of his most prized possessions in hopes that the other
creatures might envy his fortune. As the day progressed, the weasel’s audience
grew as more and more animals stopped to marvel at his belongings. The weasel
was quite satisfied with his success until he noticed a squirrel that walked
right passed his pile of shiny objects, without so much as a glance in his
direction. The weasel was so surprised that he stopped his display and abandoned
his possessions to pursue the squirrel. “Excuse me! Did you not see my
spectacular collection?” the weasel inquired. “I did” said the squirrel. “Then
why didn’t you stop?” insisted the weasel. “Your wealth neither impresses nor
concerns me,” and with this response the squirrel wandered away, leaving the
weasel in utter dismay.
(Money Can't Buy Happiness: ChristArt)
The weasel returned to his display,
but could not get the squirrel out of his head. Eventually, his frustration got
the best of him and he set out in search of the squirrel’s tree. When the
weasel arrived, he was greeted and welcomed up as if the squirrel was expecting
him. “What brings you to my tree?” the squirrel asked innocently. “Honestly, I
was baffled by your lack of appreciation for all the nice things that I have
devoted my life to collecting” replied the weasel. The squirrel could no longer
bear the weasel’s preoccupation with his wealth. “For many years, I have
watched you scurry around in search of anything of value that might bring you
the acceptance of others. I actually feel sorry for you. It’s been years since
you’ve been happy and when you finally achieved a sense of accomplishment, it
was taken by something as simple as another animal failing to acknowledge your
wealth.” In that moment, the weasel realized the error of his ways and began to
regret the years that he had lost in pursuit of worldly treasures.
-Happiness is the greatest treasure-
Author's Note: This tale was inspired by Aesop's fable, The Cock And The Jewel. In the fable, the rooster is merely looking for something to eat when he comes across a jewel. The rooster alludes to its worth, but ultimately deems it worthless to him. Though my characters and overall moral vary greatly from the original, they share a common appreciation for the lack of importance of worldly possessions.
Hey, Austin! I really like your take on the fable and thought you created a very nice re-telling of the story. I especially appreciated how you included dialogue between the characters- it really adds something extra. I hadn't heard this fable before so I am intrigued and will probably look up the original version just to see how they compare.
ReplyDeleteHey, Austin! I really like the way you told the story and the moral of this story. I went back to the original fable to compare it to this one. I really like how you changed the characters and the moral, but had a common theme to the two stories, which was the lack of the importance of worldly possessions.
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