Les Philo-Fables pour Vivre Ensemble

Abstract

"A first edition of this work was published by Albin Michel in 2007. This book picks up where "Les Philo-Fables" left off in 2003. Piquemal writes in the preface that that book's effort had had significant success. Enthusiastic respondents have made him aware of other rich resources, including the "Panchatantra" and Krylov's fables. So here is a new collection of Philo-Fables, but this time oriented to living together. This time I sampled the first dozen or so and find them well chosen and engaging. If anything, they rely even more on traditional fable materials. "The Fisherman and the Man of Affairs" (11) has a wonderful repeated line "Mais pour quoi faire?" and a fine climax, when the man of affairs articulates his most ultimate purpose -- "so that you can rest." The fisherman answers "That is just what I am now going to do" (instead of doing all those things we just went through). "The End of the World" is the story of the rabbit who experiences heaven falling and starts a panicked flight (24). "The Horse and the Ass" is the familiar fable that teaches that egotism can sometimes hurt the person protecting himself. BW is presented as an old French folktale (38). BS is presented as an African parable (48). Again, each story has some catch-words above it. And each has a reflection titled "Dans l'atelier du philosophe." The colorful, simple art remains just right for this kind of book. Has anyone thought of translating these books into English? I would love to teach them!"