Be Careful What You Wish For. - No. 58. The Frogs Desiring a King - The Essential Aesop™ - Back to Basics Abridgment Series
Gregg Zegarelli Esq.
Managing Shareholder at Technology & Entrepreneurial Ventures Law Group, PC
"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." Leonardo da Vinci. (Adopted by Steve Jobs)
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The Frogs were tired of the work of governing themselves, and they thought themselves important enough to have a king.
“Mighty Jove,” they cried, “send us a king.”
Jove thought the child-like request of the croaking Frogs was amusing, if not foolish, so he threw a huge crowned Log down into the swamp. The Frogs went startled at first, but soon came to realize that the Log was not a real king.
So, the Frogs petitioned to Jove, once again, “We want a real king!”
"So you press your desire to be ruled by another?" thought a chiding Jove. So, he now sent King Stork. King Stork looked at his plump subjects, and soon set to gobbling up the Frogs, for the king's advantage, such as it often is, one way or another.
The Frogs repented for seeking to be ruled, now by this tyrant, but, alas, it was too late. Petitioning Jove again, this time for a different king, Jove responded, "You received what you requested. You were not satisfied before. You were not satisfied after. And, it appears that you will only be satisfied by the fulfillment of some idea of perfection that does not exist in reality."
Moral of the Story: Be careful what you wish for. The grass is not always greener. Each thing has its own attributes of benefits and burdens. He who does not govern himself, will be governed by another.
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Introduction - The Essential Aesop - Epilogue
Related Articles: Think Ahead. The Thing From The Seed. - No. 57. The Swallow and Other Birds - The Essential Aesop™ - Back to Basics Abridgment Series
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Why We Loved It: This complex fable permits multiple elemental interpretations. In their state of being—such as it was—the Frogs' first error was the hubris to think themselves deserving of some more important framework of society. This caused a resultant unhappiness, by an unfulfilled desire. Riding along with this hubris was the apparent inability to govern themselves to their happy satisfaction. Therefore, the Frogs lacked ability and contentment.
Where there is lack of ability and lack of contentment, there is frustration. And, when frustration cannot be self-managed internally, because of some externalized source of causation, there is outward-facing blame. Frustration happens for many persons and many reasons, but, such as it for a carbonated beverage that has been shaken, a fool opens the bottle to an explosion, not having the discipline wisely to manage the condition.
On another tier, this fable reminds us that some imperfect conditions of social life simply match the cruel and less preferred ("imperfect") rules of nature. The Frogs simply could not get happy, by blaming external cause, forgetting that, for many conditions, happy is by internal cause.
The Frogs are the best beginning and end of their own condition, and their own happiness. Such as it is for vices, the Frogs' condition was made all the worse for it, vicious persons being their own best punishment.
By the law of inertia, a foolish path leads to an even more foolish destination. The Frogs should have pursued happiness by self-government. They had the means for their own happiness, right there, in front of them. The grass is not necessarily greener, and Utopia does not exist. Silly, childish, foolish Frogs.
"A government that is big enough to give you all you want is big enough to take it all away." ~Barry Goldwater
"Which government is best? That which teaches us to govern ourselves." ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Proverbs in Prose
"Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one." ~Thomas Paine, Common Sense
"Every country has the government it deserves." ~Joseph Marie de Maistre, Letter (1811)
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* Gregg Zegarelli, Esq., earned both his Bachelor of Arts Degree and his Juris Doctorate from Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His dual major areas of study were History from the College of Liberal Arts and Accounting from the Business School (qualified to sit for the CPA examination), with dual minors in Philosophy and Political Science. He has enjoyed Adjunct Professorships in the Duquesne University Graduate Leadership Master Degree Program (The Leader as Entrepreneur; Developing Leadership Character Through Adversity) and the University of Pittsburgh Law School (The Anatomy of a Deal). He is admitted to various courts throughout the United States of America.
Gregg Zegarelli, Esq., is Managing Shareholder of Technology & Entrepreneurial Ventures Law Group, PC. Gregg is nationally rated as "superb" and has more than 35 years of experience working with entrepreneurs and companies of all sizes, including startups, INC. 500, and publicly traded companies. He is author of One: The Unified Gospel of Jesus, and The Business of Aesop™ article series, and co-author with his father, Arnold Zegarelli, of The Essential Aesop: For Business, Managers, Writers and Professional Speakers. Gregg is a frequent lecturer, speaker and faculty for a variety of educational and other institutions.
© 2013 Arnold Zegarelli and Gregg Zegarelli, Esq. Gregg can be contacted through LinkedIn. Arnold Zegarelli can be contacted through Facebook.
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