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Once upon a time, the animals decided that they must do something
heroic to meet the problems of "a new world", so they organized a
school.
They adopted an activity curriculum consisting of running,
climbing, swimming, and flying. To make it easier to administer the
curriculum, all the animals took all the subjects.
The duck was
excellent in swimming, in fact better than his instructor; but he made
only passing grades in flying and was very poor in running. Since he was
slow in running he had to stay after school and also drop swimming in
order to practice running. This was kept up until his web feet were very
badly worn and he was only average in swimming. But average was accepted
in school so nobody worried about it except the duck.
The rabbit
started at the top of the class in running but had a nervous breakdown
because of so much make-up in swimming.
The squirrel was excellent
in climbing until he developed frustration in the flying class where his
teacher made him start from the ground up instead of from the treetop
down. He also developed "Charlie Horses" from over-exertion and then got C
in climbing and D in running.
The eagle was a problem child and was
disciplined severely. In the climbing class he beat all others to the top
of the tree, but insisted on using his own way to get there.
At the
end of the year, an abnormal eel, that could swim exceedingly well, and
also run, climb and fly a little, had the highest average and was
Valedictorian.
The prairie dogs stayed out of school and fought the
tax levy because the administration would not add digging and burrowing to
the curriculum. They apprenticed their child to a badger and later joined
the groundhogs and gophers to start a successful private
school.
Dr. Reavis asks, "Does this fable have a moral?"
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