QUOTE
"The Lone Rat and His Family"
An extended family of rats once lived in a city manor. Now the housekeeper of this dwelling was rather old and somewhat blind, so it was easy for the rats to scavenge food from the badly swept kitchen floors. But one day the housekeeper no longer came, and a new one took her place. The floors were given a thorough cleaning, and hard times came upon the rats. Although no rat starved, none of them could eat as he wished.
The next morning the rats met to decide what to do. They quarreled much and eventually told the rats whose turn it was to forage to do whatever was necessary. Now one rat, as usual, had not come to the meeting. This rat thought such meetings a waste of time, and always scavenged alone. The scavengers talked among themselves and began to be suspicious of this rat, saying, “He must not care about the family. Why else would he avoid the meetings?” Their speech became uglier, and finally, finding the rat eating a crumb, they set upon him bodily, biting him to death. The other rats were again happy with one less mouth and more food for each.
Moral:
The fool maintains disinterest
In affairs of governance
For rights may be deprived of those
Who so lack vigilance.
Alright, the assignment was to write a fable modeled after Indian (subcontinent) literature, so my first concern is that its overall tone may be too like Aesop's.An extended family of rats once lived in a city manor. Now the housekeeper of this dwelling was rather old and somewhat blind, so it was easy for the rats to scavenge food from the badly swept kitchen floors. But one day the housekeeper no longer came, and a new one took her place. The floors were given a thorough cleaning, and hard times came upon the rats. Although no rat starved, none of them could eat as he wished.
The next morning the rats met to decide what to do. They quarreled much and eventually told the rats whose turn it was to forage to do whatever was necessary. Now one rat, as usual, had not come to the meeting. This rat thought such meetings a waste of time, and always scavenged alone. The scavengers talked among themselves and began to be suspicious of this rat, saying, “He must not care about the family. Why else would he avoid the meetings?” Their speech became uglier, and finally, finding the rat eating a crumb, they set upon him bodily, biting him to death. The other rats were again happy with one less mouth and more food for each.
Moral:
The fool maintains disinterest
In affairs of governance
For rights may be deprived of those
Who so lack vigilance.
The first and final sentences seem a bit forced.
The syllable counts of the moral's first and third lines are differ by one.
And now the disclaimer I often seem to need: Please do not feel pressured to help me, only if you wish.