Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Another Fable

The Lawful Assembly
Once upon a time, a little chicken tried to cross the road and an acorn fell from a tree and hit him on the head. "The sky is falling!" the little chicken announced with great concern. The little chicken stood in the road yelling about the end of the world by plummeting atmosphere when a tiny young calf saw him. The calf joined the little chicken and mooed that today's youth had no morals. A baby rabbit hopped by and, curious, stopped to listen to the little chicken and the calf. The leveret decided to join and hopped on to the road where she chirped about the coyotes moving into the country without official sanction. A coyote pup howled the vigilanteism of the bobcats and a kitten complained that the tuna was tainted. A baby goat joined the others on the road and, among strangers, the kid complained that modern entertainments promoted head-butting. A baby scorpion without a single kill on his record complained that the world had grown so noisy, the muses could not reach him. A young colt gamboled up and nickered that modern farming techniques were eroding traditional hooven cultures and a baby squirrel argued that the acorn supply was being concentrated in the hands of the poultry.

Over time, the protest grew until a local parson, speeding up the road in his car saw the assembly that teemed across the road and realized he was barreling down upon a gathering of one of every animal that walks, creeps or crawls over the Earth. "Surely," he proclaimed, "this is a sign."

Moral: Traffic is actually worse when everyone agrees on the destination.

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE, n. Collective alienation.

34 comments:

Omnipotent Poobah said...

civil disobedience - See oxymoron

Ariel the Thief said...

Poobah's comment read "Sexy Moron" at first.

so who's tree was that? :-P

Anonymous said...

Oh - my - God!

You've posted about talk radio today, haven't you, Doug?

TLP said...

Civil disobedience? I'm a little chicken about it these days.

Anonymous said...

Read a magnet the other day that said:
Think: it's still legal

I'm totally with TLP unfortunately. Not unfortunately that I agree with her but as the government continues its excesses the Democrats remain silent

Don't they understand they symbol they're sending out?

Anonymous said...

here's how my fragile brain thought this story would end...

"Over time, the protest grew until a local parson, speeding up the road in his car...plowed into the gathering and killed all but the chicken, who died on the way to the hospital, when a large chunk of blue ice came crashing down on top of the parson's car."

Moral: Surely the sky was falling, Shirley.

in all seriousness, this was a nicely thought-provoking fable, Doug. well done! *claps*

Anonymous said...

a baby squirrel argued that the acorn supply was being concentrated in the hands of the poultry. Douglas, that's priceless. :)

CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE, n. comp. An attribute of human society that is absent from cowed cultures.

     In the 1940s, the French had a Resistance.
     The Germans did not.

Pia, the Democrats are merely doing what We the People are telling them to. Whatever that is.

Anonymous said...

uh...so Doug? care to say a few words about that post you slipped in under this one?

Sar said...

Poobah stole my comment, then Ariel read my mind!

Civil Disobedience: great commenters think alike and beat me to it.

Doug The Una said...

Poobah, what do we want? Oxymoron! When do we want it? Now! Si se puede!

Farmer Bob, Ariel. Why?

Al, funny you mention that so briefly.

TLP, well look up when you go outside.

Pia, why do we write stories and read magnets?

Neva, I think the end is ambiguous. And thanks.

Amoeba, that's not really true about Germany. Dietrich Bonhoffer and others suffered the disadvantage of being local and listed.

Neva, for an explanation go to Actonbell's.

Sar, you're kind of giving it away today, aren't you?

Unknown said...

the little buggers should have listened to their parents and stayed home

sycrxe: sexy moron (thanks, ariel!)

Anonymous said...

I stand corrected, Doug. Though his organization was small and, to be kind, mostly surreptitious. To be sure, Nazi Germany had the Gestapo, while we have FEMA. But still ...

Kyahgirl said...

sounds a bit like coffee time at WA :-)

are you sure the parson didn't think 'wow, I must in God's good books, I'm not going to have to buy groceries for months!' ( then he proceeded to floor it )

AsianSmiles said...

acts of the illumined.

Minka said...

that certainly was a sign. I hope the local parson had his wits about him, got a bit of wood and nails and built a mighty ship, loaded one type of animal from each kingdom and...

Anonymous said...

Everybody may agree on the destination now, but both agreement and traffic density will change once they start planning the route.

The Mushroom said...

civil disobedience: Abiding by the rules of humanity over the rules of society. An affront to the self-proclaimed gods for following a higher power.

see: lost art -- cf. "free speech zones" miles away from the eyes and ears of those who need to see and hear

Minka said...

´modern entertainment promotes head-butting´

that´s funny, scary but funny...

"America´s Next Head-Butter!"

It could happen!

TLP said...

Minka, we have lots and lots of butter heads. Nice, soft, mushy heads over here.

Jamie Dawn said...

RoP whines all the time about the humidity level as well as the tastless gnats. Our neighbors' cats went on strike last week, refusing to continue ripping up their couch and drapes until their owners bought a larger litter box.

LOVED this story, Doug!!

I Dive At Night said...

Minka, "one" of each kind? Southern preacher?

O.C., I prefer gazpacho and feta.

Doug, so are you saying if we all took the bus, the busses would always be late?

ddzshim,
Morgan

Doug The Una said...

K, what's gotten into baby animals these days, anyway?

And therein, good friend, lies the difference. You can sneak a whole city past our government without being caught. But just for the record, Bonhoffer and friends did conspire to murder Hitler. That's not subtle.

Kyah, part II will be short, probably.

AS, complaints of the apostles?

And truly, Minka, this Noah is a virtuous man. You can always tell the pious by the sad animals.

TLP, I bet Minka wondered why I wear an English Muffin as a hat.

J.D., he's a muse.

Um, yes, Actonbell. That's exactly what I meant. (I wonder if you're this generous with David Foster Wallace.)

Morgan, I don't share the prejudice but that's a great line about the Southern Preacher. I sure hate to even contemplate what would happen if a bus were late.

Thanks, Actonbell.

Minka said...

Morgan, yes! ONE! it is about time we get it right and planet earth a fresh start! :)

I think I have been over here three or four times today and now I notice the word for today. I was wondering why everybody in teh comment section had a link to civil disobedience.

I really should apply for teh head-butting reality show. It´s not like there is any harm I could do to my head :)

AsianSmiles said...

LOLS MrD! did they ever? the only disobedient disciple got himself hanged!

illumined by gold? lol

Anonymous said...

Priceless.

"I'm with the nice little thought provoking fable"

and your not famous why again????

tsduff said...

Doug, the way your mind is wired is nothing short of stupendous. Good update, to say the least. I love fables, and by the way, I champion chickens.

robkroese said...

What about the fishes? Were the fishes on the road? Because they would have had a legitimate complaint.

Doug The Una said...

Mushroom, sorry, I lost you among the penguins. I like the formula laws of humanity v laws of society. I'm not antisocial, I'm misanthropic!

Minka, I think you were just being contrary or maybe you read it subliminally.

AS, 30 points of light?

Alice, because I'm outshone by my friends who aren't famous either.

Terry, that's a rare quality in a crow. You're exemplary.

That's funny, Diesel. Protesting the lack of oxygen in air and the emergence of continents. I've known people who held grudges that long.

Minka said...

Doug, I don´t even know what subliminally means. Is it to do with pills?

Anonymous said...

Well, it's Thursday and I guess I am a little early (6:30 CST) for the "magic word"... just wanted to stop by while I had some time on my hands... :)

Hope you are doing great!

Anonymous said...

Shayna! seeing you HERE more than makes up for the fact there's no new post up, as yet! (Doug? too many beans last night, "magic" and/or otherwise??)

ah well... happy happy something something.

Doug The Una said...

Minka, It has to do with symbolism that bypasses the conscious mind. Well, or pills under the tongue. Very good.

Thanks for doing so, Shayna. Sorry I was late this morning.

Neva, late flight + two urgent messages from work in my voice mail when I turned on the phone in Burbank. You do the math.

Anonymous said...

It is good that I have been so busy. I didn't have time to notice that you ignored me yesterday.

Doug The Una said...

I'm sorry, Quilly. I was out of town yesterday and missed Mushroom's too, initially. Apologies, especially since I meant to say your comment was exactly true.