Very often animals, all the animals that inhabit the planet, from the smallest insects to the most gigantic species, teach us how to live, how to behave, as long as we are able to observe them with respect and humility. It is fascinating to take note of the behavior of these beings, learn from their habits, their pleasures, their fears…
The fables of the classic French writer Jean de La Fontaine (1621-1695) are, without a doubt, one of the true masterpieces of all time. These are small and wonderful stories inspired by what we can call “classical models”, from Aesop to the great Horace, but they also collect the most select of the best stories from the Eastern tradition.
In all these small-large stories, the real protagonists are the animals, often under a certain anthropomorphic appearance. They, in some way, embody our own human nature, full of virtues and defects.
The fabulist magician La Fontaine was able to create such memorable legends as “The Fox and the Grapes”, “The Grasshopper and the Ant” or “The Young Widow”.
These scenes of animal life magically combine ingredients such as beauty, ingenuity and a fine sense of humor. And it is worth noting that these fables became the best-selling books of their time, true bestsellers. It is, neither more nor less, than twelve books full of inspiring fables, a total of 240 texts.
Much more often than we think, the world of animals helps us understand and put a certain order to the decisions we make as humans. And through each fable, La Fontaine wants us to learn a moral lesson, a moral, that is, each story becomes a warning to navigators (humans) to try to manage our daily lives much better.
Dear reader of ‘Peludos’, although these stories may seem a bit distant to you, since they describe the reality of that French Court of the 17th century, I want you to understand that they are talking about our daily lives. The great themes of the human condition do not go out of fashion, much less disappear from the face of the Earth.
The brilliant French writer, through his scrupulous and attentive observation of nature, analyzed the variety of nuances that the animal world brings us, and generated solutions and “recipes” to solve so many problems that we face, such as greed, greed, solidarity, friendship, envy, hatred, superiority or weakness.
The truth is that we, human beings, and animals, share many unwritten rules that determine our behavior, let’s say “moral” (to call it something).
Every day there are more women and men who consider that great “lifelong” moral principles, such as empathy, the capacity to love or a certain attitude of respect, are common denominators that we have with the animal universe.
Thanks to a study carried out by the BBVA Foundation we know that almost 40% of Spaniards are very clear that we share feelings and emotions with animals. In this nationwide survey, the participants point out that we have to respect all the “furry ones” as if they were almost “our brothers”, since, on a biological level, we really share many characteristics with all of them from the origin.
And all animals, regardless of the species, like us, feel physical pain, know how to enjoy pleasures, generate close family ties and develop powerful communication strategies.
In short, assimilating that there are not so many barriers or differences between the animal and human species, places us, beings who have historically proclaimed ourselves superior and the maximum expression of natural evolution, in a certain position of “healthy humility.”
Let us claim and put into practice a certain daily humility, as an essential ingredient to achieve harmony on this planet between living beings.
