Aesop: The Untold Tale

Underwater archeologists working in Greece near the small island of Mikonos have made an astonishing discovery. They have found the remains of an ancient merchant vessel dating back to 570 B.C. Among the remains, they found a ceramic jar still sealed after all these years. Inside the jar was a small scroll made of papyrus. On it was written the original version of Aesop's fable (possibly written in his own hand), "The Tortoise and the Hare." As you will note below, the original story was distinctly different from the one that has been passed down through time.

The fable goes as follows:
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A hare once made fun of a tortoise. "What a slow way you have!" he said. "How you creep along!"

"Do I?" said the tortoise. "Try a race with me and I'll beat you."

"What a boaster you are," said the hare. "But come! I will race with you. Whom shall we ask to mark off the finish line and see that the race is fair?"

"Let us ask the fox," said the tortoise.

The fox was very smart and crafty. He instantly saw an opportunity to destroy both the tortoise and the hare through this silly race and possibly even get a decent meal out of it. The fox marked off a very long course, but advised the contestants not to start until the morning to ensure they would have time to finish the race. Everyone agreed and met back the following day.

Through the night, the fox called upon his friends. He compelled them to stand along the course and shout insults at both contestants. He thought to himself, "I will make them feel so bad that they will crawl to the finish line and beg to be my dinner just to end their misery."

The following day, the tortoise lost no time. He started out at once and jogged straight on.

The hare too leaped along swiftly for a few minutes until he had left the tortoise far behind. Yet, when he came around a corner on the backside of the coarse, the badger family hurled insults at the hare. They made fun of his ears and long, gangling legs. Each insult cut right through the hare's soft skin. It wasn't long before the hare was cut to the bone. Depression quickly overcame the hare. He finally crawled up under a tree and was unable to move. The insults were more than the hare could bear.

It wasn't long before the tortoise made his way to the backside of the coarse. And like with the hare, the badger family was there to discourage him on. They insulted his green sickly color and his baldhead. They insulted everything about the tortoise. Yet, their insults just bounced off the tortoise's shell. Not one of them left a mark. The tortoise was safe in the home God had provided. It took some time, but eventually the tortoise crossed the finish line in a joyful spirit and won the race.

The fox was very disappointed that his plan did not work on the tortoise, but found comfort in inviting the hare over for supper.
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The Bible says it this way in Proverbs 12:16, "A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult."

We are told over and over throughout the New Testament to abide in Christ. When we abide in Him, we are protected. Yet, when we try to live independently from Him we become vulnerable.

Have you been insulted lately? Insults strike at our pride. They strike at areas of our life where we have not given lordship to Christ.

We all need to be insulted until we can no longer be insulted. Insults point out our pride. They provide an opportunity for us to let go of that area of our life and abide in Christ.
NOTE: This story of the untold tale is a fictional account that occurred in my imagination. I assumed this would not be a problem for anyone who read it. After all we are talking about talking animals. That is pretty much a fictional account itself. However, some of the text was quoted from the original fable as printed in "The Book of Virtues" (W. Bennett, Simon & Schuster 1993).