THE MOUNTAIN AND THE SQUIRREL

 

THE MOUNTAIN AND THE SQUIRREL

 

The mountain and the squirrel,

Had a quarrel,

And the former called the latter “Little Prig”;

Bun replied,

“You are doubtless very big

But all sorts of things and weather

Must be taken in together,

To make up a year

And a sphere.

And I think it no disgrace

To occupy my place.

If I’m not so large as you,

You are not so small as I,

And  not half so spry.

I’ll not deny you make

A very pretty squirrel track;

Talents differ; all is well and wisely put;

If I cannot carry forests on my back,

Neither can you crack a nut.

 

COMMENTS

 

This is one of the most popular poems written by the American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882). Emerson entitled it “FABLE” and so it is. It is often shared with children in their native languages all over the world. Indian poet Sir Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938)  translated it into Urdu and included it in his very first anthology “Bang-i-Dara “(The Call of the Marching Bell), for the delightful instruction of kids. 

 

            As a literary term, ‘fable’ is derived from Latin fabula, meaning ‘discourse, story. A fable is thus a short narrative in prose or verse with a moral intent. Its characters are non-human creatures or inanimate things, as squirrel and mountain in Emerson’s poem. According to A Dictionary of Literary Terms by J. A. Cuddon, Clarion Books, 1980, the presentation of human beings as animals is the characteristic of the literary fable and is unlike the fable that still flourishes among primitive peoples.

           

             Emerson like Walt Whitman is a democratic poet.  He believes in inclusiveness. The small like the squirrel and the big like the  mountain are the essential components of the totality called the world.

 

Unity is a cumulative result of many diversities. Look at the following lines from Emerson’s concept of the ‘oversoul’ which reflects an organic synthesis of all the diverse elements that go into the making of the world.

             

            “There is one soul,

            It is related to the world.

            Art is its action thereon.

            Science finds its methods.

            Literature is its record.

            Religion is the emotion of the reverence that it inspires.

            Ethics is the finding of the soul by individuals in each other.

            Society is the finding of this soul by individuals in each other.

            Traders are the learning of the soul in nature by labour.

Politics is the activity of the soul illustrated in power.

Manners are silent and mediate expression of soul.

 

After reading these lines, recall what the squirrels said to the mountain:

           

            “You are doubtless very big;

            But all sorts of things and weather

            Must be taken together

To make up a year and sphere.

 

The squirrel proudly tells the mountain:” And I think no disgrace/To occupy my place.”

Smallness has its own beauty and value which the mountain lacks.  The mountain is a beast of burden can carry forests on its back, whereas the squirrel is an active agent. It is not still and stationary.  On the contrary, it is playful and nimble. She asserts that that the function allotted to her by the Creator is individualistic. The mountain is intended to carry forests on its back, while she is ordained to crack nuts. These roles are not interchangeable, but the neither is less important than the other.

           

            The central moral of this fable lies in these words:  Talents differ; all is well and wisely put.

 

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16^th July 2021                                                               G. R . Kanwal