Before Reading >> Fable

I. A Brief Introduction to Fable

The term fable refers to a short story in which animals or inanimate objects speak and behave like humans, usually to give a moral point. The term comes from the Latin fabula, “a telling.”

The greatest teller of fables was Aesop. He was believed to be a Greek slave who lived in the 6th century B.C. Another great teller of fables was Jean de La Fontaine. He wrote in France in the 17th century. La Fontaine based many of his fables on those of Aesop.

Some of their best-known fables are The Lion and the Mouse, The Hare and the Tortoise, The Fox and the Grapes, The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf, The Fox and the Crow, The Dove and the Ant, and The Fox and the Stork. 
    In the Chinese language, some idioms come from fables such as The Frog in the Shallow Well (井底之蛙), His Spear against His Shield (自相矛盾), Making His Mark (刻舟求剑), Ostrich Logic (掩耳盗铃) and Blessing or Bane (塞翁失马).

Aesop (620?~560? B.C.) ancient Greek writer of fables

Jean de La Fontaine (1621~1695) French writer

II. Two Famous Fables

Here are some pictures about two famous fables. One is an Aesop’s fable; the other is a Chinese one. In small groups, students are required to talk about the pictures and think of the following questions.

1. What are the names of the fables?

2. What lessons can we draw from the fables?

The Fox and the Grapes

One day a fox passed under a vine.

From the vine a lot of grapes were hanging.

He was very hungry and thirsty. He said, “What a fine vine it is! The grapes on the vine look very nice and sweet.”

The color of the grapes was green. The grapes were very big. And the grapes were so big and beautiful that the fox wanted to eat them.

The fox said, “I am thirsty and hungry. I want to eat the grapes now.”

The fox jumped. The grapes were too high. He tried everything to get the grapes. But it was in vain.

At last the fox said, “The grapes are too sour to eat. I don’t want to get the poor grapes.”

Making His Mark

A man from the state of Chu was crossing a river. In the boat, his sword fell into the water. Immediately he made a mark on the boat.

“This is where my sword fell off,” he said.

When the boat stopped moving, he went into the water to look for his sword at the place where he had marked the boat.

The boat had moved but the sword had not. Is this not a very foolish way to look for a sword?

III. Some Famous English Sayings from Fables

Here are some famous sayings in English. You are required to answer the following questions and then tell each fable as briefly as possible.

1. What are the Chinese equivalents of these sayings?

2. From which fable does each saying come?

-        Sour grapes.

-        Killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.

-        One good turn deserves another.

-        Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched.

Sour grapes.

It means “酸葡萄” in Chinese. This saying comes from the fable The Fox and the Grapes. In it the fox cannot reach the grapes. Disappointed, the animal says that the grapes are sour and that they are “not fit for a gentleman’s eating.”

Killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.

It means “杀鸡取卵” in Chinese. This saying comes from the fable The Goose with the Golden Eggs. In it the owner of the goose is not satisfied with one golden egg a day. He cuts the goose open to see if there is gold inside.

One good turn deserves another.

It means “善有善报” in Chinese. This saying comes from the fable The Dove and the Ant. In it a dove saves an ant from drowning in a river. Later the ant saves the dove’s life by stinging a hunter in the foot, making him miss his aim at the dove.

Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched.

It means “蛋未孵别先数小鸡” in Chinese. This saying comes from the fable The Maid and the Pail of Milk. In it a girl carries a pail of milk on her head. She dreams about the eggs she will buy when she sells the milk. The eggs will hatch; then she will sell the chickens. With the money she has earned, she will buy fine clothes for herself. Thinking about the new clothes, the girl becomes so happy that she merrily tosses her head and spills the milk.

Before Reading >> Adam Smith and The Wealth of Nations

I. Adam Smith

i. A Brief Introduction to Adam Smith

Adam Smith (1723~1790): British philosopher and economist

Adam Smith, economist and philosopher (哲学家), was born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland in 1723. At Glasgow University he became a professor of logic (逻辑学) (1751) and moral (道德) philosophy (1752~1763). As a tutor to the Duke of Buccleuch he traveled the Continent from 1764 to 1766. In 1776 he moved to Edinburgh as commissioner (专员) of customs for Scotland. He died there in 1790. He is considered the father of modern economic theory. His famous work The Wealth of Nations points out that labor is the only source of a nation’s wealth.

ii. Chronology of Adam Smith

— 1723

Born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland.                                                        

— 1737 ~ 1746

Educated at the Universities of Glasgow and Oxford.

— 1748 ~ 1751

Gave lectures on rhetoric (修辞学) and belles-lettres (纯文学) in Edinburgh.

— 1752 ~ 1764

Appointed professor of moral philosophy at the University of Glasgow.

— 1759

His first book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, was published.

— 1764 ~ 1766

Traveled France and Switzerland as tutor to the Duke of Buccleuch and met Turgot and Necker in Paris and discussed their economic ideas.

— 1766 ~ 1776

Lived in Kirkcaldy preparing The Wealth of Nations.

— 1778

Appointed commissioner (专员) of customs and went to live in Edinburgh.

— July 17, 1790

Died.

II. The Wealth of Nations

This is an important work of economic and social theory by Adam Smith, published in 1776. Its full title was An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. In it he analyzed the relationship between work and the production of a nation’s wealth. His conclusion was that the best economic situation results from encouraging free enterprise (an economic system in which there is open competition in business and trade, and no government control). This idea has had a great influence on economic theories since and it formed the basis of the economic policies of the Conservative government in Britain in the 1980s.

Before Reading >> U.C.L.A.

U.C.L.A. stands for University of California at Los Angeles. It is the largest of eight branches of the University of California. It was established in 1919 and now has about 35,000 students. Maybe because of its location close to Hollywood, the school is known especially for its film studies and the campus is used for some television and movie shoots.

Global Reading >> Part Division of the Text

Global Reading >> Further Understanding

I. For Part 1

i. Interview

Suppose you are a journalist and your partner is the author of the text. You have an interview with him. The interview should cover the following points:

1. the happening in the drugstore — the reason why the author went there; a dialogue between the salesgirl and him

2. the author’s feeling to the happening — the problems American teenagers are facing such as ignorance, poor ability of calculations and other things

3. something about the son of the author’s friend

4. the author’s purpose of offering a fable

ii. Questions and Answers

1. Why did the author go to the drugstore one day?

(He wanted to buy some file folders.)

2. How old was the salesgirl?

(Under 20 years old.)

3. What was the salesgirl’s reaction to the author’s mental arithmetic (心算)?

(She was very surprised at it.)

4. Did the salesgirl believe that the author did calculations by magic? Why or why not?

(Yes. Maybe she believed it because she could never do that.)

5. What was the author?

(He was a teacher at a college.)

6. What did the author think of American teenagers?

(He thought they are ignorant and lacking in knowledge of world history and geography.)

7. In the author’s opinion, what was the most serious problem for American teenagers?

(They were indifferent to their ignorance.)

8. Why did the author give us the example of his friend’s son?

(He just intended to show the seriousness of the problem.)

9. According to the author, what would happen if there was an idle, ignorant labor force in a modern industrial state?

(There would be many problems in society such as plane crashes, computer jams and breakdowns of cars.)

10. What was the author’s purpose of offering a fable?

(He just wanted to make American teenagers understand the danger of their ignorance and intellectual laziness.)

II. For Part 2 Rearrange the Order of the Pictures

Each of the following pictures stands for a Kevin Hanley in a certain year. Match the picture with the description and then tell the class how this Kevin lives. (图略)

 – Kevin 1835, a poor peasant in Ireland

 – Kevin 1928, a steel-mill worker in Pittsburgh, U.S.A.

 – Kevin 1945, a soldier fighting the Japanese army

 – Kevin 1966, a student who studies all the time so as to get into college and law school

 – Kevin 1990, a cleaner in a Japanese-owned factory

 – Kevin 2020, a porter in a hotel for wealthy Europeans and Asians

 – Kevin 2050, living in a slum and searching through trash piles for food