Today’s Thinking Out Loud reflection is on Aesop’s Fable, The Dolphins, Whales, and the Sprat. Aesop’s Fables is available for free download here.
The Fable
“The Dolphins quarreled with the Whales, and before very long they began fighting with one another. The battle was very fierce, and had lasted some time without any sign of coming to an end, when a Sprat thought that perhaps he could stop it; so he stepped in and tried [a small fish of the herring family] to persuade them to give up fighting and make friends. But one of the Dolphins said to him contemptuously, “We would rather go on fighting till we’re all killed than be reconciled by a Sprat like you!”
Note: I come from a large extended family, lots of uncles, aunts, and cousins. I enjoyed all of them, but there were some who didn’t enjoy each other. In one family, when my uncle died, my aunt changed her will to make her daughter the executor instead of the oldest son (large families like to gossip about each other when they get together and one family is missing). The family was split between siblings who favored my aunts decision and siblings who disagreed. They stopped talking to each other. A well intentioned uncle tried to broker peace and help them to reconcile. His reward? Both sides stopped speaking to him. There are times, especially in relationship problems, to stand on the sidelines, especially when you are friendly with both parties, and hope the disagreeing factions will come to their senses.