Kalila wa-Dimna<\/em> will immediately recognize, this fifteenth-century manuscript illumination occurs near the end of the collection. \u00a0Kalila and Dimna, the jackal siblings from whom the an takes anthology of tales takes its name, are shown here as observers of the action. \u00a0\u00a0(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I thought that I would share with you another charming little eighth-century animal fable (in my translation) from Munther A. Younes, Tales from Kalila wa Dimna: An Arabic Reader<\/em> (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1989):<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
A raven was living in a tree, and near the tree was the hole of a large black snake. \u00a0And every time the raven had chicks, the snake ate them. \u00a0So the raven was deeply sad about its chicks. \u00a0One day, its friend the fox passed by and saw the raven sorrowing and asked the reason for its sorrow. \u00a0So the raven informed the fox about the snake that ate its chicks. \u00a0So the fox said, \u201cAnd what have you decided to do?\u201d \u00a0The raven answered, \u201cI have decided that I will peck the eyes of the snake out while it is sleeping so that it will be blind, unable to see a thing.\u201d \u00a0The fox replied, \u201cThat is a mistaken idea, for it poses a great danger to you. \u00a0Seek out a way to achieve your goal without incurring such risk.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nThe raven thought and thought for a long time. \u00a0And one day, while it was soaring in the sky, it saw a certain little rich girl bathing in a river while her robes lay on the river bank. \u00a0And with her robes was a beautiful necklace of gold. \u00a0So the raven swooped down and snatched the necklace and flew with it toward the hole of the snake, all the people pursuing after it. \u00a0And when the raven reached the hole, it threw the necklace upon the hole while the people were looking. \u00a0So the people came to get the necklace, and they found the black snake and killed it.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Another bit of biography about Ibn al-Muqaffa\u2018: \u00a0His name means \u201cthe son of the [one with the] crushed [hand].\u201d \u00a0He was a highly educated court official, as his father had been. \u00a0However, his father had been accused (and found guilty) of embezzlement and, as a punishment, his right hand had been crushed. \u00a0Hence the name.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Posted from Phoenix, Arizona<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 I thought that I would share with you another charming little eighth-century animal fable (in my translation) from Munther A. Younes, Tales from Kalila wa Dimna: An Arabic Reader (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1989): \u00a0 A raven was living in a tree, and near the tree was the hole of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[198,2091,6327,6330,6324,644,8474,8681],"class_list":["post-83001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-arabic","tag-arabic-literature","tag-dimna","tag-ibn-al-muqaffa","tag-kalila","tag-literature","tag-raven","tag-snake"],"yoast_head":"\n
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![\"Kallia](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2019\/08\/Kalila_wa_Dimna_001.jpg\")
<\/a>