People frequently begrudge something to others that they themselves cannot enjoy. Even though it does them no good, they won't let others have it. Listen to a fable about such an event. There was a wicked dog lying in a manger full of hay. When the cattle came and wanted to eat, the dog barred their way, baring his teeth. The cattle said to the dog, "You are being very unfair by begrudging us something we need which is useless to you. Dogs don't eat hay, but you will not let us near it."The fable is not amongst the original Aesop's Fables, but rather appears in Steinhöwel's Esopus (c.1476).
From Wikipedia.
Hmm.... a fable for TWS?
ReplyDeleteI take the Fifth on your question, Elizabeth.
ReplyDeleteI'll HAVE a fifth with you, Mimi. We're Episcopalians, after all. Wherever three or four are gathered . . . . .we always take the fifth.
ReplyDeleteThe fable has been in my head all day, so I said, "What the hell...!" Yes, we'll share a fifth, Elizabeth.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for answering my long-unspoken question about the meaning of the phrase "a dog in a manger." I once was blind, but now I see!
ReplyDelete'Dog in the manger' was a common reference around my house, Russ. When we were kids and didn't want to play with a toy or have the candy, but we didn't let the other have it, we were reminded about the fable of the dog in the manger. In my child's storybook, the dog in the illustration was much fiercer than the dog pictured above.
ReplyDelete