Fables Part 1: Re-discovering Aesop’s Fables. Are fables still relevant in our times?

Dr. Abe Rotor and Ms Melly Tenorio
Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid DZRB 738 KHzAM
8-9 Evening Class, Monday to Friday
Living with Nature - School on Blog

Wolf and the Crane; Wolf and the Lamb

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Aesop did not write down his fables. He told many people the stories and they remembered them. It was nearly two hundred years before the stories were collected together and published. The fables were not published in English until the 15th century, but since then they have been read by people all over the world. Their moral lessons are as true today as they were 2,500 years ago when Aesop was alive.
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Childhood Lessons from Fables

The first lessons I learned from my father came from Aesop’s fables. Quite a number of them are still fresh in my mind nearly fifty years after. Fable or fibula in Latin is a story or tale, especially a short story, often with animals or inanimate objects as speakers or actors, devised to convey a moral. So simple and universal are fables that no one could possibly miss the lesson of each story.

Before I proceed let me say a few words about the genius behind this ancient art of storytelling. the founder of fables. Aesop was a native of old Greece, a former slave who earned his freedom out of his genius and wit, a master in allegorical philosophy. It is for this natural gift that he also gained fame – and ironically, it is also for this that he met a lamentable end in the hands of enemies whom his fables created.

Aesop is the greatest fabulist of all time, and if there are other prominent fabulists after him and at present, there is likely a shade of Aesop in their stories. Even modern fables like the movie Babes, about the pig that gained its right to live by learning to be a sheep dog, reminds us of Aesop. Or take the case of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, a story about man’s folly and greed for power and wealth and lavish living.

But little can we perceive the original morals of Aesop in most of today’s animations. There is simply too much fantasy that masks the lesson, especially so with the versatility of technology that emphasizes scenarios that heighten the plot as if fables are running entertainment stories. What technology misses is that it fails to capture the refinement of presentation and the purposeful message that lingers in afterthought. Aesop has a unique way of making his reader to first look within himself before casting judgment upon others. Like many philosophers in his time, he believed that change is basically internal and often, discreetly self atonement and non-effacing. Aesop is Aesop for such extraordinary character as can be gleamed from records about the man. To wit -.

“It is probable that he was of a low and diminutive stature, though agreeable in his complexion, and polite in his manners. It is however certain that he had a great soul, and was endowed with extraordinary mental qualification; his moral character approached to a degree of perfection to which very few have attained. He appears to have had a true sense of morality and a just discernment of right and wrong; his perceptions and feelings of truth were scrupulously mice, and the smallest deviation from rectitude impressed his mind with the greatest antipathy.

“No considerations of private interest could warp his inclinations to as to seduce him from the path of virtue; his principles are steadfast and determined, and truly habitual. He never employed his great wisdom to serve the purposes of cunning; but, with an uncommon exactness, made his understanding a servant of truth.” (Oliver Goldsmith, Life of Aesop)

While we recognize Aesop as the father of the fable, there were fabulists ahead of him like Archilochus who wrote fables one hundred years before. But it is certain that Aesop was the first that brought that species of teaching into reputation, building upon the style of using animals and inanimate objects to describe the manners and characters of men, communicating instructions without seeming to assume authority of a master or a pedagogue.

Here is a story from which we can gleam the Aesop’s indomitable reputation. He adopted a unique strategy to reconcile his master and his estranged wife who had left him. It is said that Aesop, then a slave of Xanthus, went to the market and brought a great quantity of the best provisions, which he publicly declared were intended for the marriage of his master with a new spouse. This report had its desired effect, and the matter was amicably settled. And at a feast to celebrate the return of his master’s wife he is said to have served the guests with several courses of tongues, by which he intended to give a moral to his master and wife, who had by too liberal use of their tongue almost caused their permanent separation.

In another occasion, Aesop astounded the sages of Greece. An ambitious king having one day shown his vast riches and magnificence, and the glory and splendor of his court, asked them the question, whom they thought was the happiest man. After several different answers given by all the wise men present, it came at last to Aesop to make his reply. He said: “That Croesus was as much happier than other men as the fullness of the sea was superior to the rivers in his kingdom.”

If we were to base Aesop’s sagacity and severe morality his answer would rather be one of sarcasm rather than compliment, but he was undoubtedly understood by the king to be a great compliment, that in his vanity exclaimed, “The Phrygian had hit the mark.” Afterwards, alone with a friend, Aesop commented, “Either we must not speak to Kings, or we must say what will please them.”

While he was living at the court of King Croesus, now a free man, celebrated and famous, he was sent on a journey to the temple of Apollo at Delphi. There he was accused by the Delphians of sacrilege, and he was convicted by an act of the greatest villainy. They concealed among his baggage, at his departure, some golden vessels consecrated to Apollo, and then dispatched messengers to search his baggage. Upon this he was accused of theft and sacrilege, and condemned to die. The angry Dephians pushed him over a steep cliff to his death.

Aesop’s ironic death is not the first among respected citizens of Greece, paradoxically when Greece was at its peak of power, as we can only imagine with this aphorism “the glory that was Greece.” Not far after Aesop’s time, Socrates, the greatest philosopher of Athens in his time and one of the greatest minds the world has ever known, was condemned to die by drinking poison hemlock for “corrupting the minds of the youth.” Socrates opened the gate of enlightenment; the concept of the Lyceum or university.

I have selected a number of Aesop fable to suit the purpose of conveying important messages related to contemporary issues in a manner that they can be understood at the grassroots. This is the purpose of Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (school-on-the air) to impart functional literacy to the masses. It is not the intention of the lessons to impose moral authority, much less to proselytize our society of its failures and weaknesses. It merely seeks to elevate awareness for change, in the humblest manner we may find ways to reform, through the lessons in the fables Aesop related more than two thousand five hundred years ago.

Continued...

Fables Part 2: Versions of Some Aesop's Fables

Popular Aesop Fables

1. The fox without a tail – Wise people are not easily fooled

2. The shepherd boy and the wolf – If we tell lies, no one will believe us when we speak the truth.

3. The boastful traveler – People who boast are soon found out.

4. The crow and the fox – Beware of people who say nice things they do not mean.

5. Who will bell the cat – Some things are more easily said than done.

6. The crow and the swan – Think well before you copy other people.

7. The wolf and the lamb – People who want to do something bad can always
find an excuse.

8. The lion and the hare – It is sometimes wiser to be content with what you have.

9. Brother and sister – It is better to be good than to be just good looking.

10. The goose that laid the golden eggs - A greedy man can lose all he has.

11. The wind and the sun– Kindness often gets things done more quickly than force.

12. The trees and the axe – Be careful when you give way over small things,
or you may have to give way over big ones.

13. The dog and his reflection – If you want more because you are greedy, in the end
you might find you have less.

14. The fir tree and the bramble – People who are too proud may be sorry later.

15. The ant and the dove – No one is too little to be helpful.

16. The boys and the frogs – Do not do things to other people that you would not
like to be done to you.

17. The raven and the jug – If you try hard enough, you may find you can do something
that at first seems very difficult.

18. The dog in the manger – Do not stop others having what you don’t need.

19. The fox and the grapes – It is silly to say that you do not want something just
because you cannot have it. (idiomatic expression: sour grapes)

20. The wolves and the dog – Those who cannot be trusted deserve to be treated badly.

21. The fox and the lion – Things are not always what they seem to be at first.

22. The bear and the travelers - A real friend will not leave you to face trouble alone.

23. The fox and the stork – If you play mean tricks on other people, they might do
the same to you.

24. The man and the partridge – No one loves a traitor.

Versions and Interpretations of Aesop’s Fables

The interpretation of an Aesop fable may vary. For example, The Fir Tee and the Bramble, has this earlier interpretation, from Oliver Goldsmith, citing Bewick’s version.

Poverty secures a man from many dangers; whereas the rich and the mighty are the mark of malice and cross fortune; and still the higher they are, the nearer the thunder.

To have a better view of the moral, let me cite the fable from Bewick’s. The fable starts with a verse, as follows:

Minions of fortune, pillars of the state,
Round your exalted heads that tempest low’r!
While peace secure, and soft contentment wait
On the calm mansions of the humble poor.

So the story goes like this. “My head, says the boasting Fir-tree to the humble Bramble, is advanced among the stars; I furnish beams for palaces, and masts for shipping; the very sweat of my body is a sovereign remedy for the sick and wounded: whereas thou, O rascally Bramble, runnest creeping in the dirt, and art good for nothing in the world but mischief. I pretend not to vie with thee, said the Bramble, in the points that gloriest in. But, not to insist upon it, that He who made thee lofty Fir, could have made thee an humble Bramble, I pray thee tell me, when the Carpenter comes next with the axe into the wood, to fell timber, whether that hadst not rather be a Bramble than a Fir-tree?”

Compare the same fable with this simplified version for children. Here it goes.

One day, on a hill top, a fir tree said to a bramble bush. “Look at me. I am tall, strong, graceful and very beautiful. What good are you? You are small, ugly and untidy.”

This made the bramble bush very unhappy because it knew the fir tree was right. But next day some men carrying axes came up the hill. They started to chop down the fir tree. They wanted to use it to make a new house.

”Oh dear!” cried the fir tree, as it started to fall. “I wish I were a bramble bush, then the men would not have cut me down.”

The Fox and the Grapes
Here is Bewick’s version of this fable.

Old maids who loathe the matrimonial state
Poor rogues who laugh to scorn the rich and the great,
Patriots who rail at placemen and at pow’r,
All, like Reynard, say, ”The Grapes are sour.”

And here is the main body of the fable.

“A fox, very hungry, chanced to come into a Vineyard, where hung many bunches of charming ripe grapes; but nailed up to a trellis so high, that he leaped till he quite tired himself without being able to reach one of them. At last, Let who will take them! Says he; they are but green and sour; so I’ll even let them alone.”

This is the interpretation from the same source (Bewick’s).
When a man finds it impossible to obtain the things he longs for, it is a mark of sound wisdom and discretion to make a virtue of necessity.

To compare with the simplified children’s version, the story goes like this as retold by Marie Stuart (A Second Book of Aesop’s Fables, Ladybird Books, 1974)

A fox saw some nice grapes. “They look good,” he said. “I want to eat them, but they are too high for me. I must try jumping for them.”

He jump and jumped but could not reach the grapes. So he said, “I can see now that they are green. They are not sweet. I do not like green grapes. They are sour. I don’t want them.”

So he went away without any. He knew that the grapes were really very nice. He just said they were sour because he could not reach them.

This story gave rise to the idiomatic expression – sour grapes, which are an expression of frustration, a passive surrender, a defeatist argument, and a kind of defense mechanism.

What could have led to the variation in the interpretation of the two versions? Thomas Bewick from whom Goldsmith based his English translation, lived in the later part of the 18th century and early 19th century, and apparently wrote and illustrated in wood block Aesop’s fables; whereas the children’s version is a very recent one. Understandably, it the social message in Bewick’s time and ours that has not changed, but it is in the way it is stated. The earlier version reflects the fineness in expression and diplomacy of the English language, unlike our contemporary style of expression - direct and moralistic. Thus the idiom – sour grapes was born out of the contemporary version.

Continued...

Fables Part 3: The Boy who Cried, Wolf! The Dog and His Shadow.

The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf
(A Boy and False Alarms)
Of all the fables I learned as child, I like best the story of the boy who cried “Wolf!” After bluffing twice, thrice, and make fun out of wit, people didn’t believe in him anymore. Then the real wolf came and killed all the sheep.

Here is the story from Bewick written in Medieval English style.
“A shepherd’s boy kept his sheep upon a common, and in sport and wantonness had gotten a roguish trick of crying. A wolf! A wolf! When there was no such matter, and fooling the country people with false alarms. He had been at this sport so many times in jest, that they would not believe him at last when he was in earnest; and so the wolves broke in upon the flock, and worried the sheep without resistance.”

The fable shows us the dangerous consequences of an improper and unseasonable fooling. The old moral observes, that a common liar shall not be believed, even when he speaks true.

The Mice in Council
(Who will bell the cat?)
It’s an interesting fable that behooves upon whose who are good only as critics, and ruefully poor doers. It also applies to those who may be sincere in a thing they think is right, but lack the courage to do it. Why many evil things continue to prevail because of indifference!

Let us look into the story. This is the simpler version for children to understand. Once some mice lived in a house where there also lived a big cat. Everyday she liked to eat some mice. At last the mice said to one another. “This must stop, or soon we shall all be eaten.”

So after a time an old mouse said. “I know what we can do. One of us must put a bell on the cat. The bell will tell us when she is near and when we must stay at home. After she has gone away, we can come out again.”

“Yes, that will be a wise thing to do. Let us do that,” they all said.

“But which one of us will put the bell on her?” said the old mouse. “I am too old, I cannot run very fast so I don’t think I can do it.”

“So are we,” said some of the others.

“And we are too little,” said the baby mice. In the end no one would do it. So the bell was never put on the cat and she went on eating the mice.

Another interpretation suggests that the fable must have been addressed to celebrated personages - people who are members of a council. In the story, the members offered solutions which they debated upon. Here the one who offered the solution to bell the cat came was a young mouse, who in fine florid speech convinced the council. Thereafter an old grave Mouse, who had sat silent all the while, gave another speech, in which he said that the proposal is ingenious. However, he thought it would not be so proper to thank the proponent unless he informs them how the bell was going to be fastened around the cat’s neck, and which mouse would undertake the dangerous assignment.

Bewick’s interpretation speaks on a higher level of thought. To wit:
“The different lights, in which things appear to different judgments, recommend candor to the opinions of others, even at the time we retain our own.”

The Dog and the Shadow
(The Dog and His Reflection)

Perhaps the most popular fable about avarice is The Dog and the Shadow (The Dog and His Reflection)

One day, a dog took a bone from a shop. He ran off with it before anyone could catch him. He came to a river and went over the bridge. As he looked down into the water, he saw another dog with a bone. He did not know that the dog he saw in the water was a reflection of himself.

“That dog has a big bone. It is as big as mine,” he said. “I will jump into the water and take it from him.” So he jumped.

When he was in the water, he could not see the other dog. And he could not see the other bone either. He had lost his own bone, too, because it fell as he jumped in. So because he was greedy, he got nothing in the end. The story invites the reader to reflect upon himself on these related lessons:
• Excessive greediness mostly in the end misses what it aims.
• Disorderly appetite seldom obtains what it would have.
• Passions mislead men, and often bring them great inconveniences.

Continued...

Part 5: Modern Fable: The Little Red Hen

The Little Red Hen – A Modern Fable

Once upon a time there was a little red hen that lived in a farmyard, and one day found some grains of wheat which she took to the other animals in the farmyard – cat, rat, pig. He asked who of them can help her plant the grains of wheat. None wanted to, so the little red hen planted the grains, and the plants grew tall and strong until it was time to harvest them.

Again he asked her companions if they are willing to help. Just like before, none of them was. So the little red hen did the harvesting. And she did all the work – brought the grains to the miller and to the baker, and when the bread was baked he asked her friends, “Who will help me eat the bread?”

“I will,” said the cat.

“I will,” said the rat.

“I will,” said the pig.

“No you will not,” intoned the little red hen. “I shall eat it myself.” So she did.

The Little Red Hen and the Grains of Wheat is a modern fable which evolved into philosophy that touches sensitive issues of modern living such as capitalism and socialism. Animal Farm by George Orwell may be different in presentation and philosophical connotation, from the traditional style of a fable. It is a socio-economic and political thesis in the guise of animals acting like humans do under a system which they themselves created.

Even as Aesop fables are taking a new dimension as viewed in a changing world, the essence is as fresh as ever. All one needs to realize them as relevant as they were in Aesop’s time is simply to reflect on them himself. For human character and behavior have not really changed since then.
x x x

References: Goldsmith O (1973) - Treasury of Aesop’s Fables Avenel Books, NY 139 pp
Stuart M (1974) A First Book of Aesop’s Fables (Vol 1 and 2) Ladybird Books

 

Earth Science (self-administered test)

Professor: Dr. A.V. Rotor


Part 1 - Multiple Choice: Copy the letter of the correct answer.
Knowledge Recall and Application
A. These are vital issues related to the subject. A. Pollution B. Global Warming C. Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) D. Nuclear energy E. Biological warfare F. El Niño G. Natural farming H. Renewable energy I. Avian flu J. Drug abuse
__ 1. Increasing strength of hurricanes, worsening floods.
__ 2. Zero tillage, no application of synthetic chemicals
__ 3. Dendrothermal, geothermal
__ 4. Bt corn, US potato, Sav’rFlav’r and soya bean
__ 5. Chernobyl incident, also similar cases in US and Japan
__ 6. Climatic phenomenon characterized by extreme drought on one side of the globe and excessive rainfall on the other side.
__ 7. Anthrax spores carried by mail, actually happened in the US following the 9-11 incident.
__ 8. More and more teeners acquire the habit of smoking
__ 9. Thinning and disappearance of glaciers and ice caps.
_ 10. Viral epidemic affecting both humans and birds and fowls, including pigs.

B. These are Alternative energy sources: A. Dendrothermal B. Hydroelectric C. Biofuel D. Solar E. Tides and currents F. Wind G. Geothermal H. Steam I. Hydrogen J. Nuclear
__11. Energy generated by splitting the atom or fission.
__12. Energy generated by fusion, such as the source of power of the sun.
__13. Most practical energy to dry fish, clothes, grains, and the like.
__14. Ebbing and surging of the sea create energy, awaiting to be tapped.
__15. The prime mover of locomotives in the last two centuries much depended on this source.
__16. Firewood is still the most popular energy for cooking.
__17. This source of energy is symbolized by the “giant” Don Quijote fought in a novel written by Miquel de Cervantes.
__18. Tiwi in Albay is the show window of this energy, in fact a model for both local and foreign projects.
__19. Ambuklao, Binga, Chico River, Pantabangan exemplify this kind of energy.
__20 This is the main source of our electricity at home, communities and industries.

Part II . True or False (20 items) Discrimination, analysis, application
__21. Morals and ethics usually go together; they do not change from contry to country.
__22.Alcogas and alcohol are same and one. Both have the same purpose – as car fuel.
__23. “Over treatment” of a patient is an ethical issue on social justice.
__24. Genetic engineering is a sin, according to the Vatican’s new pronouncement.
__25. It is also a sin to kill a tree, beyond the literal sense.
__26. Using MSG, Aspartame, salitre may be morally acceptable but ethically wrong.
__27. A doctor prescribes an antibiotic about to expire. This is morally and ethically acceptable.
__28. Laban ng gagamba, laban ng beetles, cockfighting – these are moral and ethical.
__29. We are responsible for the consequences of our action – Principle of double effect.
__30. You can recall a genetically modified organism (GMO) back to its natural general constitution.

Part III. Essay (Expression, reasoning, organization): Answer two only as prescribed - 10 points
A. In developing countries such as the Philippines it is advisable to use sugarcane, cassava and corn, to order to produce alcohol for our vehicles. Yes___ No ___ Reason for your answer: _______________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________
B. There are now new shipping lanes, many ships are bypassing the Suez and Panama Canals. How did this come about? ____________________________________________________________________________
C. What is alcogas” _____________________________ E10? ____________________________________
D. A taxi driver has TB, refuses treatment, and continues with his trade. He can be apprehended under the law. Yes/No Support your answer. ________________________________________________________
E. “I’m not a plastic bag” means ___________________________________________________________
F. Smoking is a sin.
Yes/No_______________________________________________________________

Note: Answers will be posted in a week's time.

Early plants acylic by AVRotor

Living with Nature, AVRotor

Living Thoughts for the Easter

Abe V. Rotor

Mural detail by AVRotor

Like a river reaching for the sea,
True beauty is brief to behold;
If it rushes will lose its beauty;
It meanders, in dying it is awed.

Through these rocks I see a fisherman
Standing at the edge of the sea;
Imagining myself in his place, I am
With my Creator full of life and free.

To the artist Nature is all beautiful,
From a sleeping child to a raging bull;
Freshness in the moon, new or full,
And in all colors, warm and cool.

Would the pious take the less trodden
Of two roads leading to but one end?
But little faith does not make a saint
No matter which road he would take.

Learn from the river through the ages,
The lowly ant, spider or stork
Kingdoms, monuments, and caves
They make; patience is silence at work.

A tenth of our brain is all we use
In a lifetime; the rest we save;
Yet it spurs us to reach for the stars
Or drives us early to our grave.

Flowers in the wild when in bloom,
Dare we to say they are wild?
They bring beauty to fill the room,
That makes our character mild.

Mahatma Gandhi - Man of the Millennium (Test, 20 items)

Abe V Rotor
Lesson on Radyo ng Bayan's Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid
Living with Nature - School on Blog

My life is my message.
Mahatma Gandhi - Man of the Millennium

"Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well."

Mahatma Gandhi, Indian political and spiritual leader (1869 - 1948)

Part 1: True or False

1. Papu Gandhi – Papu means Pope.
2. Gandhi, Mahatma – Mahatma implies deep respect on the level of a living god.
3. His true name is Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.
4. He was born on November 19, 1917
5. Indira Gandhi is daughter of Mahatma Gandhi.
6. Jawaharlal Nehru became the first PM of independent India.
7. Studied law in Italy and became a lawyer.
8. He met a prominent social idealist, GB Shaw.
9. He applied for clerical work in India, was shocked of racial discrimination.
10. Came from a family with morally rigorous environment that decreed pacifism and the sanctity of living things.
11. Entered politics in 1919 to protest British sedition laws and politicize the Indian National Congress, advocated no-violence, non-cooperation to achieve independence.
12. Repressed throughout WWII, he negotiated for an autonomous Indian state.
13. India gained independence in 1948
14. Gandhi wrote books which we use today as references.
15. Last words of Gandhi – Oh, God!

Part 2: Supply the missing Keywords
1. He influenced a great leader in South Africa, now a living hero.
2. This US leader upheld to his death the principle of equality of races based on Gandhi’s teachings.
3. Racial discrimination has a term used in S Africa.
4. Gandhi founded and practiced this doctrine.
5. Other term for mob rule.


ANSWERS:
Part 1: 1f, 2t, 3t, 4F(October 2,1869), 5f, 6t, 7F (England) 8t, 9f, 10t, 11t, 12t, 13t,14f, Gandhi did not write books. 15t, last words when he was mortally shot in public by a fanatic assassin.

Part 2: 1. Nelson Mandela; 2. Martin Luther King; 3. Apartheid; 4. Doctrine of non-violence; 5.Anarchy

RATING:
19 - 20 Excellent; 16 - 18 Very Good; 13 - 15 Good; 10 - 12 Passing; below 10, listen to DZRB 738AM, Monday to Friday 8 to 9 o'clock in the evening, Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid. [www.pbs.gov.ph]

Based on movie, Gandhi, and library and Internet references.

Meditation for the Lenten Season

Living with Nature - School on Blog
"All that live must die, passing through Nature to eternity." William Shakespeare

Michaelangelo's Pieta, after the restoration. The Vatican

1. There is hunger for ordinary bread, and there is hunger for love, for kindness, for thoughtfulness; and for this is the great poverty that makes people suffer so much. Mother Teresa of Calcutta

2. I have learned through bitter experience the one supreme lesson to conserve my anger, and as heat conserved is transmuted into energy, even so our anger controlled can be transmuted into a power that can move the world. Mahatma Gandhi

3. It takes two to speak the truth - one to speak, and another to hear. Henry David Thoreau

4. All happy families resemble one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Leo Tolstoy

5. Ask and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Saint Matthew

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If at first you don't succeed;, try, try again. William Edward Hickson

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6. Ars longa, vita brevis. (Art is long, but life is short.) Hippocrates

7. Procrastination is the thief of time. Edward Young

8. We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another. Jonathan Swift

9. If peace cannot be maintained with honour, it is no longer peace. John Russell

10. Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo,
Shovel them under and let me work - I am the grass; I cover all. Carl Sandburg

11. Proprium humani ingenii est odisse quem laeseris. (It is human nature to hate the man whom you have hurt.) Tacitus

12. So many gods, so many creeds,
So many paths that wind and wind,
When just the art of being kind
Is all this sad world needs. Ella Wheeler Wilcox

13. Fine art is that in which the hand, the head, and the heart of man go together. - John Ruskin

14. Wherever you go, you will always bear yourself about with you, and so you will always find yourself. Thomas Kempis

15. Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at the close of day;
Rage, rage, rage against the dying of the light. Dylan Thomas
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It is great wisdom to know how to be silent and to look at neither the remarks, nor the deeds, nor the lives of others. Saint John of the Cross
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Selected and compiled by Abe V Rotor

Oh, time! You are a friend.

Abe V Rotor

Brief rest before taking a test.

Dream, yesterday was a dream!

A unicorn I rode to rainbow's end

to where a pot of gold might lie.

Oh, time! I thought you're a friend.

And to the other end I walked the trail,

To find my rainbow gone at the bend;

And I, on a crossroad I stood alone.

Oh, time! I thought you are a friend.

What road shall I take - the less trodden?

I gazed at the horizon to its end,

Rough was the way and never ending.

Oh, time! I thought you are a friend.

And here I am, half gone, long is the way;

Lo! I see again my rainbow at the end;

Tread on I must, there's no unicorn now;

Oh, time! you are indeed a friend.

Home, Sweet Home with Nature, AVRotor

Idle Moments on the Ruins

Idle Moments on the Ruins

Dr Abe V Rotor

Intramuros, Manila

Could there be a better place to be idle than to be with the ruins,
remnants of the past and residues of memory?
Could there be a better time to be idle than to let the world go by,
and be neither a part of history nor posterity?
Could there be another place where the march of time slows down
and comes to a stop in the realm of eternity? ~

Living with Nature, AVR

Living with Nature at Home

Dr. Abe V. Rotor and Ms. Melly Tenorio
DZRB Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (School-on-Air)
738 AM, 8 to 9 Evening Class
Monday to Friday

Home is celebrating birthday with a pet.

Home is with children at work and play.

Here is a beautiful poem to start the lesson. If you will recall, those of you who saw the movie, The King and I, Anna the English teacher sang a part of the song. It was typical in her time when Europeans left their home to search for a new one at the other side of the globe, many of them pioneers in the New World, which was to become the United States of America. Others found the Orient, and for Teacher Anna, it was a special arrangement for her to serve the king of Siam (Thailand) as tutor to his many children.

To us Filipinos, the song stirs the heart as well. Thousands leave their native land, their homes and families in search for opportunities as OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers), and migrants, many of them never to return, except on brief visits as balikbayan.

Fortunately OFWs remit a large part of their earnings back home to their loved one, enabling them to build a house or improve the dwelling they left, supporting their children to acquire education, and to a significant extent, starting a local business for the family. Such opportunities are rare and we are fortunately for it. It is the remittances which average $1 billion dollars a month that is saving our national economy today.

Both external and internal generation of resources in the hands of the citizen is crucial to progress. To be practical about it, material progress is necessary. It is a bridge to a better standard of living. It is a tool in making a happy home and family.

This lesson explores the many ways we can create a happy home and family.

Home is playing Home, Sweet Home on a weekend with relatives and friends.

Home Sweet Home
John Howard Payne
Music by Henry Rowley Bishop (1786-1855)
(Arranged for the violin and piano by Henry Farmer)

‘Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,
Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home;
A charm from the sky seems to hallow us there,
Which seek through the world, is ne’er met with elsewhere.
Home, Home, sweet, sweet Home!

An exile from home, splendor dazzles in vain;
O, give me my lowly thatched cottage again!
The birds singingly gaily, that came to my call –
Give me them – and the peace of mind, dearer than all.
Home, Home sweet, sweet Home.
There’s no place like Home! There’s no place like Home!

Generally we all belong to a country of peaceful people, lovers of pets, united in family and faith. We are a country of overseas workers, migrants and the balikbayan. We are divided in many ways.

• Spouses
• Babies, mothers
• Father, mother
• Parents, children
• Siblings
• Uncles, aunties
• Grandparents, grandchildren
• Lovers, friends, neighbors
• Classmates, town mates
• Masters, pets

Divided we all are – and apparently increasingly evermore. Yet the spirit is never weak, it binds people through distance and time. The spirit of longing and belonging is but one.

Home is class reunion with a lechon (roasted pig).

There are 101 definitions of home we gathered from the radio program. This is a short list.

Home is - 1. roof for everyone, residents and guests. 2. wall with large windows that let the sun and the breeze in. 3. where fish in the aquarium sparkle in the morning’s sun. 4. baby smiling, of children playing. 5. faithful husband and wife.

6. “place for everything and everything in its place,” but not always. 7. dad and mom waiting for us from school. 8. workshop for hobbies and inventions. 9. where our dog lies on the doormat waiting for its master. 10.litter of puppies and kittens.

11. rooster crowing, nature’s alarm clock. 12. house lizard’s crispy announcement of a guest coming. 13. frog croaking in the rain. 14. safari of wildlife – from insects to migratory birds. 15. warm embrace of a cat.

16. cup of coffee, a sip of wine, a newspaper. 17. warm bath, a cold shower, a bath tub. 18. National Geographic, Time Magazine, Daily Inquirer. 19. ripe tomato, succulent radish, dangling stringbeans, 20.brooding mother hen in her nest.

Home is camping at the backyard

21.fresh egg everyday. 22. sound of birds and crickets. 23. sweet smell of flowers, falling leaves, swaying branches in the wind. 24. sweet smell of the earth after the first rain in May. 25. singing cicada in the tree.

26. swarming of gamugamo in the evening. 27. sala too small for so many friends. 28. cabinet of books, a study table, a computer. 29. Beethoven, Mozart, Abelardo, Santiago. 30. Charlotte Church, Josh Groban, Sharon Cuneta.

31. Amorsolo. Picasso, Van Gogh. 32. potpourri of appetizing recipes, of the proverbial grandmother apple pie. 33. pinakbet, lechon, karekare, suman, bibingka. 34. garden of roses, a grass lawn to lie on. 35. herbarium of plants, a gene bank.

36. biodiversity, a living museum. 37. doing repair that has no end. 38. disposing old newspapers, bottles, metal scraps, used clothes. 39. midnight candle before an exam. 40. shoulder, a pillow, to cry on.

41. Noche Buena. 42. fireworks on New Year. 43. general cleaning on weekends. 44. soft bed that soothes tired nerves and muscles. 45. fire place, a hearth, which takes the cold out of the body and spirit.

46. Prodigal Son returning, Good Samaritan. 47. round table where thanksgiving prayer is said. 48. laughter and music, prose and poetry. 49. forgiving, rejoicing, celebrating. 50. angelus and rosary hour.

To sum it all, Home is Home, Sweet Home.

Exercise and Assignment: Choose from the list the items that are applicable to you. Rate each item using the Likert scale (1 very poor, 2 poor, 3 fair or average, 4 good and 5 very good). Add other items which are applicable to your situation. Add to get the total score and divide it with the number of items. Here is the guide to determine your rating.

4.6 – 5.0 Very Good
3.6 - 4.5 Good
2.6 – 3.5 Fair or average
1.6 - 2.5 Poor
1.0 - 1.5 Very poor

Home is walking the dog.

Living with Nature, AVR

Reviving the "Handyman" or “Do-it-yourself” Culture (Test 25 items, True or False)

Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature - School on Blog

Bahay Kubo at Home

Advance Lesson: In time you will be able to build a Nipa Hut (grass hut) such as this, symbol of Philippine rich culture and fine craftsmanship.

1. Prune trees (cutting of branches) in summer when their branches are bare, and you can see which need to be cut. Use crosscut saw for smoother and even cut.

2. When cutting a large horizontal branch with saw or bolo, be sure you start on the upper side and continue on until it is severed. Never cut from underneath.

3. After cutting a branch, there is no need to paint the cut end with oil-based paint to prevent insects and pathogens.

4. When loosening the blade of electric fan, turn the knob clockwise.

5. It is important to disassemble the electric fan for thorough cleaning. Use a dry paintbrush first to remove dust and lint, and then wash blade, casing and body with warm water and soap. Oil axle and other moving parts.

6. Allow newly cemented flooring or pavement to set for a day before you open it for use.

7. In rotating tires of you car, follow the x pattern, so that the rear wheels go to the front, and the front wheel to the rear.

8. To prolong life of iron (plantsa) and ironing board, and making ironing safe and convenient make a banana leaf cushion or matting for the iron. Never scrap the bottom of the iron with knife or sandpaper.

9. For a practical Christmas tree, get a tall potted plant, and decorate it minimally. It will save you a lot of money and help reduce garbage.

10. Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact flourescent bulb to save on electricity.

11. Don't cut and kill palm trees and cycads - but offer instead their seedlings to be planted on Palm Suinday.

12. It is not recommended that cut hair gathered from beauty saloons and barbershops be made into wigs and pin cushions, because lice and certain diseases may be transmitted.

13. Egg white makes an excellent hair net (setting spray); it is rich in protein.

14. Beer is used in setting hair.

15. Lagis ng niyog with calamansi is as good if not better than most commercial hot oil. Mayonaise is an excellent hot oil substitute. Certain top stars use this.

16. Tea is good face wash (removes black and white heads), so with hugas bigas.

17. Am is a good food supplement for babies. This is obtained from rice in its final stage of cooking.

18. Dark curtains make a room look more spacious; light curtains create an opposite effect.

19. Plyboard is more durable than plywood of the same thickness.

20. Kiln-dried wood does not easily warp or shrink, that is why it is more expensive than ordinary lumber.

21. Initial charging of rechargeable batteries is necessary when using them for computers, cell phones and the like.

22. Most handy tools are designed for the right handed because there are few left handed. Left handed tools are made to order.

23. Today, it is more practical to use liquid tiles than conventional tiles; it is also more versatile and fits to suit different ambiance.

24. Today, prefabricated house parts are becoming more popular, from door and window assemblies to lattices and stone rafts. All you need is to order the prefab material and install it.

25. Reviving the handyman culture or do-it-yourself culture sets a motion of hobby, necessity, enthusiasm, creativity and opportunity to save and to earn, now appreciated worldwide. ~

Answers: False for items 1,6,12,18 & 19; the rest are true

Scoring:
24 – 25 outstanding
20 – 23 very good
16 – 19 good
12 – 15 pass
Below 11 listen more Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid

Peace and the Fish

Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature - School on Blog
This is our 1,868th post. Running total of pageviewers has surpassed the 100,000 mark. Welcome!

Lesson: Peace starts at home, it grows with the family - to face the test beyond - both time and space. How is peace and fish compared? Differentiated?

Fish Sanctuary, painting in acrylic, AVR

Once I was asked what really makes peace,
and I pondered on the fish;
With a paint brush, where does peace begin,
and started with the color green;

From there grow plants bubbling oxygen,
and take carbon from the fish its friend;
food to waste, waste to food in continuum,
though the mystery will ne'er be known.

Puzzling how life begins with the godly sun
in the magic of photosynthesis,
its energy transformed and shared by all
life and all its forms to exist -

sharing through cooperation, not competition,
should the world be one nation.
Again I was asked what really make peace;
this time I looked beyond the fish.

I see the family, I see the home with nature
in her care and nurture;
I see creation's niches of independence,
in each obedient dependence;

I see the institutions, man's legacy to society,
humanity and posterity;
Here peace is sown, it grows to weather the test,
though the world shall never rest. ~

Living with Nature, AV Rotor

Summer in Paintings

Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature - School on Blog

Lesson: Summer is for all ages. Summer is short, so spend it well. Make it a well deserved break from hectic schedules and stressful life.

Boat adventure, acrylic, detail of mural, AVR

Fishing on the Stream, acrylic AVR

Hiking, La Union Botanical Garden, SFLU, acrylic AVR

Summer, the outdoor season of every year;
outside of the home is cool;
we pray for rain to come, and not to come,
staying sane but sometimes fool;
children learn freedom through adventure
they do not learn in school;
the old stop the clock to be with the young,
feeling worn but living full;
together march through the seasons of life
to the destiny of the soul. ~

Living with Nature, AVR

Rhodophyta

Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature - School on Blog

Lesson: Phycology. Do you like maki? It is wrapped with the most expensive seaweed - nori, Pophyra, gamet (Ilk). It belongs to Class Rhodophyta. Its members grow in the deepest part of the coral reef where the sun is least, as compared with the green and brown seaweeds found in relatively shallow zones. Here is an article in poetry to describe this group of plant-like thalli.

Rhodophyta, acrylic painting by AVR 2000

Rhodophyta - you have the magic of

• living at the dim of the ocean where the rays of the sun barely reach you, catching the remaining rays of blue with your red pigments - rhodophycin and xanthophyll;
  

• ramifying into forked dichotmy of stems and leaves resembling those of your cousins on land, yet botanists have demoted you to a lowly kingdom - Protista;
  

• living two separate lives, yet joined in one cycle that makes you whole, your chromosomes complete - sporophytic, at another only half - gametophytic;
  

• sleeping in extreme seasons, aestivating in the warm tropical water, and hibernating in the cold, until you are active again;
  

• hiding from hervibores from land and sea, from sudden gust and tide, finally from your greatest enemy - man the omnipotent omnivore. ~

Rhodophycin, xanthophyll - pigments of red algae and plants with red coloration. Orange has xanthophyll and carotene (yellow)
Protista - sub-kingdom, includes one-celled organisms, neither plant nor animal
sporophytic - phase with diploid (N2)chromosomes
gametophyte - phase with haploid (N1) chromosomes
aestivate - dormant in extreme summer; hibernate - dormant in harsh winter
omnivore - herbivore and carnivore combined; plant and animal eaters.

Living with Nature, AVRotor

Mutant

Abe V Rotor

Mutant in acrylic by AVRotor

A frog turned monster by man's genius,
On God's Seventh Day of rest;
By design or accident, but for what purpose,
But man put to the gravest test. ~

Bamboo - the Giant Grass

ouSpecies of Bamboo. Museum of Natural History,
University of the Philippines, Los Baños, Laguna

Perhaps the most useful plant is the bamboo, the giant grass.

Let me count the ways:
rope to textile to fan,
hut to tall buildings,
bag to basket to garung,
toy to piggy bank,
decor to palo sebo game.

It traps dirt and binds mud,
keeps hills and mountains green,
ripraps levees and banks
from erosion and flood.

It's supple and strong,
best for scafolding
outrigger and mast,
and the finest fishing pole.

It recorded history
as ancient as the Scroll,
and the papyrus reed,
and warns of El Niño
as it blooms ahead.

It makes the finest kite,
the brightest lantern,
chopsticks for Lauriat,
including its labong.

It's a rainmaker's tool,
the earliest canon -
real or game, a gong,
a xylophone, pan pipe,
a church organ,

It catches the wind,
muffles the sound of battle,
speaks in scary creaks,
hushes children to go home
before dark.

I am dwarfed by this lowly grass
towering over my head
in praise and thanksgiving. ~


palo sebo - greased bamboo pole with a prize at the top - the object of the sport.
garong - large bamboo basket to store grains.
labong - bamboo shoot prepared as vegetable or pickle.

Protolife

Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature - School on Blog

Lesson: Honing imagination based on scientific theory - the beginning of life. What was the first form of life - protolife? From your readings draw or paint the earliest forms of life from your own imagination.

Blue-Green, experimental painting on glass, acrylic and oil, AVRotor (2003?)

Archean ended three billion years ago they say

when the first sign of life appeared;

Could it be a protein blob becoming cell?

Or a prokaryote heretofore unheard?

Could it be indigenous to earth or some alien

That rode of meteor's tail or meteorite?

Could it had risen from the raging ancient sea,

or spawned where the sun shone bright?

If blue greens, they charged the air with oxygen,

Paved the road to biodiversity to this day;

Paleozoic teemed with life and became fossils

that run our cars, build our cities today.

Life - matter is energy and energy is matter;

In between is the bridge of Providence;

From sun to plants, to animals, to human

It is mystery, faith sans evidence.

Yet, so little do we understand the cycle of life,

The living dies that others might live

In perpetual rhythm, living and non-living

In homeostasis, to give and to receive.

We presume we have uncoded life itself,

Playing a neo-Frankenstein role;

What life really is - little do we know,

Not having read the story at all.-

Part 2: Verses to live by

Abe V Rotor Living with Nature - School on Blog

"Only good wine grows mellow with age; So does a good man grow into a sage."

Young Charles Darwin after travelling around the world studying nature. He became one of the foremost scientists of the world. Unless cut and polished, a stone's a stone, Like a sleeping gene, unknown and alone. Nobly a life many men can choose, Yet prefer to live long and lose. Smoke foretells of a consequence; Pulse is life’s precious reference. Ephemeral and fleeting are our lives, when we don't watch sunset and sunrise. The past leaves a song to inherit, New to the young, but dying bit by bit. The crisis ambitious men and women face, Is loss of privacy to win a nameless case. Reality dies, it vanishes into a dream, And dream is reality again foreseen. False kindness makes another Waterloo Where well-meant advice find flaw. Who nods when old is wise and deep, Save he by the fireside asleep. The butterfly flutters to show her beauty; When at rest, exudes peace and serenity. Even nature fails to decipher correctly, Sending out freaks often too many. What greater joy in a man’s journal, But the story of a boy eternal. Once we have reached, but never knew We would fall down and look up anew. How many a resolve do we make to be humane, And yet fail, and say, “We are only human.” How do I know truth unspoken? When the heart has spoken? How could one find reason for living Unless he can see a new beginning. Beauty seen once may break many hearts That heal soon as the image departs. A weed is a flower in disguise. Need the eye and heart surmise? Broken promise drags us into deeper pit, Away from truth,and life’s pursuit. In the doldrums or in sudden gusts, The ship is safer with a bare mast. Nature is better fit when we depart; Content with her own matter and art. You can’t tell where a sailboat goes without a keel while the wind blows. Little in me dies that others might live, Here Lord, here’s my whole life to give. ~

Silence of the Bells

Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature - School on Blog Decapitated belfry. Bacarra, Ilocos Norte

Old Spanish belfry, Magsingal, Ilocos Sur

I heard the masts of the galleons in the wind,
the thunder of guns and clash of the sword;
I heard the words of kings and that of God,
the promise of the other side of the world.

Bells, bells, bells, proclaiming triumph
of foreign masters over natives their slaves;
I heard the shots that felled great souls
liberating fellowmen from their enclaves.

I heard tongues of knowledge, of spiruality,
but tied to ideals and submission;
I heard footsteps departing and coming,
in the promise of a new nation.

A century passed, the world now a village,
people by whisper understand each other;
And the belfry once proud is but a ruin
with the silence of the bells forever. ~