As Trump stumps around Asia, roaring about American indomitability, this fable suggested a take on the relationship between the U.S and North Korea.
Get away scrawny insect, excrement of the earth!
It was with these words that The Lion spoke to the No See Um one day. The other declared war on him.
Do you think, said the insect, that your royal title of king scares me, or causes me the least anxiety? A bull is more powerful than you, and I lead him by the nose.
The insect had hardly finished his words when he rang the charge, played the trumpet and the hero. In the opening parry, he darted out of range, took his time, dive bombed The Lion’s neck, which drove the beast nearly wild. The quadruped foamed. His eyes sparkled. He roared. Everyone nearby trembled and hid.
And this universal alarm was the work of a No See Um; nothing more than an aborted version of a fly harassing The Lion from a hundred directions. Here biting his back, there his muzzle. Now flying up his nose. At the insect’s will, the beast’s rage grew. The invisible enemy triumphed and laughed when he saw that without claws or teeth touching the maddened animal, he was drawing blood. The unhappy lion tore at himself, whipping his tail around his flanks, swiping at the air, until he couldn’t take it any more. His extreme fury finally exhausted him, beat him, and left him back on his heels.
The warring insect withdrew in glory. And just as he had rung the charge, he rang the victory. He made the rounds to announce his win … and encountered en route a spider’s web.
There he also encountered his end.
What do we learn from this story?
I see two things. The first is that between one’s enemies, the ones to fear most are often the smallest. The other is this: one may survive a great peril only to be felled by the smallest mishap.
It seems that North Korea has found its way up America’s nose and the President is foaming at the mouth about his country’s might. Is it only a matter of time before the US begins to flay itself, shredding friendships it needs in Asia?
North Korea is more than likely to encounter its own fatal, proverbial spider’s web in the end. After all, Japan has just reinstituted a standing army and China has been busy spinning webs for quite some time.
It’s the part before that end I’m worried about; the part where everyone loses.
What are these Fableogs?
Originally published at www.huffingtonpost.com on November 10, 2017.
By Mina Samuels on November 10, 2017.
Exported from Medium on March 17, 2018.