The Seattle Times headline read “Boy, father fight off bear attack in Bellingham.” Both 12 year-old Robin Westgate and his father, Noah, were bitten and clawed. Both required stitches, and both, thankfully, are recovering.
In other circumstances their strategy of making themselves large and making a lot of noise might be considered bad form. Perhaps arrogant or boastful. But when confronting a black bear, it is precisely the sort of defense that is recommended. It was not pride nor ego that motivated Robin and Noah but self-preservation.
Father frog could have learned from them. As Aesop told it, the little froggies came upon an ox in their marsh one day. They returned home with stories of a strange, huge beast they had just seen. Their father, ever the egotist, took their report as a challenge and puffed himself up. “Was he as big as this?” he asked. “Much bigger” came the reply. Father puffed again, expanding himself still further. “Surely he was not larger than I am now?” The little froggies responded, “Oh…he was enormous. Much larger than you are even now.” With his last ounce of strength and straining every nerve, the paternal frog puffed once more…and burst.
The biblical proverb says it best: “Let another praise you and not your own mouth.” When a man blows his own horn, the music he makes tends to sound strident. Of course, we must take care lest those who praise us seek only to flatter. Aesop’s warning about flattery features a crow perched on a tree bough to eat a piece of cheese he has just found. A passing fox, seeing here an easy meal, praises the bird’s plumage and beautiful form. “And your voice must be equally lovely,” says he. “Won’t you let me hear you sing?’ Seduced by this flattery, crow opens his beak to caw…and the cheese falls straight into foxy’s mouth.
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