環(huán)球英語—1018:Stories for Wise People

Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Anne Muir.
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And I'm Mike Procter. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
People sometimes call the lion 'the king' of all the animals. It is strong - and dangerous. But today's Spotlight is about animals in particular stories. The lion in this story is lying on the ground. It is sleeping! But it does not sleep for long! A little mouse runs over the sleeping body of the lion. The lion awakes and seizes the little mouse. He is just about to eat the mouse when the mouse speaks.
'Please do not harm me,' the mouse says. 'If you let me go, I will help you some day.' The lion laughs at the idea. How could a little mouse help a big strong animal like a lion? But he lets the mouse go.
A few days later, a hunter catches the lion. The hunter ties the lion to a tree with ropes. The lion struggles and cries out but he cannot escape.
The mouse hears the lion crying for help. He comes to see what he can do. He bites through the ropes and sets the lion free.
Voice 2
This famous story is about two and a half thousand years old. The story is one of a collection of stories called Aesop's Fables. There are hundreds of such stories. Most of them involve animals and birds that can talk to each other. They can even talk to people! These stories are called fables: they are not true stories - but they contain truths and good moral ideas. Aesop's fables are famous all over the world. People still read them today. But who was Aesop? When and where did he live? What was his life like?
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Some people say that Aesop did not even exist! They say the fables are wise sayings that many different people have collected over hundreds of years. But several ancient writers wrote about Aesop - writers such as Aristophanes, Plato and Aristotle. They believed he was a real person!
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Aristotle wrote that Aesop was a slave belonging to a man called Xanthus. Xanthus lived in Greece during the fifth or sixth century BC. Aesop received a very good education in the house of Xanthus. Later in his life Aesop was a slave of another master, named Iadmon. And Iadmon gave Aesop his freedom. As a free man, Aesop was able to meet with many rich and important people. Everyone respected his intelligence and his wisdom.
Aesop discussed matters of politics and of the natural world with the leading thinkers of his time. He even defended one of his rich friends in a court of law. So why should such an intelligent and wise man choose to tell fables about animals and birds that talk to each other? Well, Aesop used fables for a reason. He knew it was easier for people to remember moral teaching if it came in the form of a story.
Here is one of the most famous of Aesop's fables.
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A hare and a tortoise were arguing about who could run the fastest. The hare is a small animal but it runs very fast. So the hare believed that he would win any race against a tortoise. A tortoise has short legs and it carries a heavy shell on its back. But this tortoise still believed he could win a race. There was only one way to find out. They agreed to race against each other.
The hare started to run very fast, but he was so sure he would win that he decided he had time for a rest. He lay down by the side of the road and went to sleep! The tortoise started slowly. He put one foot in front of the other and just kept going. Soon he passed the sleeping hare. The tortoise just kept on going.
After a while the hare awoke. He looked around. He could not see the tortoise anywhere. The hare jumped up and started to run as fast as he could but it was too late. He arrived at the end of the race to find the tortoise had already won.
Voice 2
That is a simple story but it has several moral ideas
hidden in it. Ideas like not imagining we are always better, and the value of finishing what we start. Many of Aesop's fables are like this. The more you think about them the more truths you can find.
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Where did Aesop's great wisdom come from? Did he think of the ideas for his fables himself or was he influenced by the wise sayings of other people?
Historians have discovered a long tradition of wisdom from the very earliest times. Wise sayings were written down for the first time in Ancient Mesopotamia. This is where people first settled down, built cities and developed the art of writing. It is where Abraham was born. This area is now mostly in modern Iraq.
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Some ancient proverbs sound very modern. Around four thousand years ago someone wrote, 'Wealth is hard to come by but poverty is always nearby'. Another proverb from that time said, 'He who eats too much will not be able to sleep!' Proverbs have been passed down from parents to children for thousands of years.
The Bible includes a collection of ancient proverbs. They were written around three thousand years ago. Many of these wise sayings were written by King Solomon. The Bible says that King Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived, because his wisdom came directly from God. People from many countries came to ask Solomon difficult questions and to hear his wisdom.
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Around four hundred years later Aesop began telling his fables. But Aesop shared his wisdom in a different way from Solomon.
King Solomon told people directly what was good and what was bad. He explained the kind of behaviour God loves and the kind he hates.
Aesop's fables use stories to tell what happens when people act in different kinds of ways. The people who hear Aesop's fables have to decide what the story means for them. They have to work out the moral ideas for themselves. Sometimes a fable can have two or three meanings.
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Did Aesop read the proverbs of King Solomon? Was King Solomon influenced by the early proverbs from Mesopotamia? We may never know the answer to these questions.
What we do know is that King Solomon believed all true wisdom comes first from God. The Bible says, 'If any of you needs wisdom, you should ask God for it. God is generous. He enjoys giving to all people, so God will give you wisdom'.
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The writer of today's programme was Joy Smith. The producer was Nick Mangeolles. The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom.
This programme and many more are on our website - https://www.radio.english.net This .programme is called 'Stories for Wise People'.
Thank you for listening to Spotlight today. Goodbye.