Shah’s Fables in The Way of Sufi

Shah’s Fables in The Way of Sufi

When most people answer the question, "What is a fable?" they usually define it as a story with talking animals that teaches readers a lesson or moral. Although most fables do fit into this category, Idries Shah, an author of many fables, believes that there is more to a fable than just being an interesting story that teaches a lesson. In fact, Shah writes in the "Forward" of his book Reflections, "Do you imagine that fables exist only to amuse or to instruct, and are based upon fiction? The best ones are delineations of what happens in real life, in the community, and in the individual’s mental processes" (1, 2).

What Shah means is that the best fables describe life, one’s mental processes, and the surrounding community to the fullest. In "The Man, the Snake, and the Stone," from his book Caravan of Dreams, Shaw gives insight to the way humans’ mental processes are and how they should be. The fable seems to be a tale about a curious, yet ignorant, man who desperately tries to justify his action of releasing the snake from under the stone so that the snake does not kill him. However, this fable shows the reader how selfish, inconsiderate, and unreasonable humans are with their animal "friends."

One thing this fable demonstrates to the reader is how selfish humans are in their ways. The fable starts with the man who picks up a stone and releases a venomous snake. The snake, of course, threatens to kill the man, but the man pleas for his life because he claims he set the snake free. The man cries, "Give me one more chance. Please let us find someone else to give an opinion, so that my life may be spared" (904). The man cares nothing about how the snake has been inconvenienced. All he cares about is trying to keep the snake from killing him.

Another issue this fable addresses is how inconsiderate man is to the animals of this planet. The fable gives two examples of animals that are treated unfairly. The first example tells of a flock of sheep which have provided humans with wool for many years. Now, after all the years of helping the humans, the humans turn around and repay the favor by killing the sheep for mutton. A sheep sarcastically adds, "That is the measure of generosity of men" (904).