The Boy Who Had an Elephant for a Pet and Other Fables

Abstract

The book has four parts: The Man Who Believed in Autumn; Fables from Hasin -- The Laughing Man; First Gifts From Goshawk, The Wind-Walker; and Legends From Long Ago. I read and enjoyed the first three fables in Part II. All three had something clear to teach. If I could ask for something, it would that they be shorter and leave more to the reader. In He Wanted To Protect Them, a guest suggests to a host that giving his family security and goods may be less than giving them the courage and hope to deal with whatever comes. He Was Afraid To Dream tells a sad story of a teacher who crushed his student's every dream with limitations and realism, as the teacher saw it. The man had given up dreaming and made his stolid way through life. A second teacher fortunately renews the gift of dreaming and helps the student make his way through the realities. Fargher closes the story by adding because I was he-who-was-afraid-to-dream. (But no longer, as you can see) (48). The Cobbler's Son tells of an excellent shoemaker who, without knowing it, helped a painter to be a better painter. When the latter has become world famous, he comes back to thank the cobbler for the great shoes and to get a new pair. The cobbler has died, but the painter can tell his son, also now a cobbler, If I could paint as well as your father could make shoes, or if my paintings were as helpful to others as your father's work was to me, I would be a very happy man, indeed (51). I hope to delve into more of the book at another time.