0:01 Who are you? [music] And where are you going? What do you want? [music] Hello and welcome to Jiggers's place where we're hearing two microphones even though I've only set one to go. Give me one second.
0:51 There we go. Nope. You know, I got a new laptop and thought it would make life easier, but it doesn't. Okay, give me one more minute. That should do it. [laughter] Okay. Uh so, welcome to Jiggers's Place. this uh this is the first one after the switch to standard time and so it's it's it's dark out. Um people are, you know,
1:29 driving down my street going home to work. It's rainy and cold here. Um in fact, it was so cold I actually had to turn my thermostat up a little bit so the heat would come on because uh you know I have that thin California blood. So, uh, thanks for joining me, uh, this afternoon or evening, depending on where, uh, in in in the world you are. Uh, um, on this episode of Jiggers's Place, I'm going to be talking about Asup's fables. Now, if you've never heard of Asup's fables, nonetheless,
2:04 it's very likely that you've heard some of them. Uh, the stories are famous. They've been told and retold, made into movies, TV shows, all all kinds for, you know, as long as there's been popular entertainment. Uh, and, uh, so in honor, I'm going to obviously talk more about Asup's fables um, after I mix the cocktail. So in but in honor of this topic uh I I came up with a cocktail um using my you know co- cocktail
2:40 creator Chat GPT. Uh it's a gin cocktail and it's called the fox and the grapes which is one of the best known of Asop's fables. Okay. And it's made with London dry gin. I'm going to be using just Bles London dry gin. This is just a standard, you know, just good regular London dry gin. That that's what it is. And I'm going to be using grape juice. Now, you may be thinking to yourself, gin and grape juice? Yeah, that's what I
3:15 thought. But, you know, I figured we'll give it a shot, right? The worst that'll happen is it won't be drinkable. And then we're going to use a little lime juice and a little simple syrup, which is just a mixture of of sugar and hot water. In this case, I'm using premixed simple syrup. And and that's really Oh, and a dash of uh aromatic bitters. So, I'm going to use some angura bitters here. That's the actually, you know what? Maybe I will use I'm going to use some Underberg. Uh, I
3:50 haven't used this in a long time and uh, you know, try something a little bit different. Okay, got my shaker with ice. I've got my rocks glass with ice as well. Okay, so we're going to start out with uh, 2 oz of London Dry Gin. we go. And you know, gin is such a nice spirit. There's so many different gins made now all over the world. I was looking at my
4:26 gin collection uh a little while ago, deciding what I wanted to use. I realized I have two gins from France. I never really think of jin as being coming from France. Okay. and 3/4 of an ounce of grape juice. By the way, if you want to get the if you're not getting the recipes for the cocktails, uh really easy to get them, just go to my website bel.com basin inbuilding emel.com and sign from an email list and then you will around 8:00 the day of Jiggers's
5:03 place, you will get an email that has the recipe and you can make it along with me or you know, whatever you choose to do. Okay. And then so this is half an ounce of I hope half an ounce of lime juice. What what do we what do we got going on here? Oh, here we go. I see. This is a This is a new one I haven't used before. That's right. Yeah. Let's see. Here we go. Okay. Cap doesn't come off. So, all right. And let's see. Where is the
5:39 Yeah. Okay. So, half ounce of lime juice and half ounce of simple syrup. So, this is a pretty pretty simple cocktail that the ingredients are all, you know, probably stuff that you have around the house or pretty easy to find. Nothing particularly exotic. No lurs or anything like that. that in there. And we're going to shake it up. Now, you
6:16 may be wondering, why am I having an ice cocktail on a cold, rainy evening? Well, you know, cuz that's just, you know, how it is. So, we'll shake the cocktail for about 20 seconds or so, making sure all the ingredients mix, making sure some of the water melts and opens up the flavors. You can see if you if you're not if you haven't watched the show before, see how the shaker is getting ice on the outside. That shows you it's icing down, which is good. Couple more seconds here.
6:53 Okay. And then we will pour this out. It's got a great color. I'll give it that. Okay. And as they say, uh, scumps, [laughter] you know what? It's not bad. Okay, I'll see you over on the couch.
7:54 Okay, here we are. [clears throat] Do I look clear? Yeah, this is I I got a new laptop so uh I don't have to undo my other computer that doesn't really work that well. You know what? It's very refreshing. I thought about making it with some sparkling grape juice that I had, but I thought that was maybe going to be too much. So, this turned out pretty good. It's [snorts] not not frankly not one of the best ones I've made, but it's pretty
8:30 good. So, sitting here in my living room, you can see I have my throws in case it gets really cold. Um, my fireplace is lit. Although it's not a wood, it is a wood burning fireplace, but I can't burn wood in it because the chimney is offkilter because we have earthquakes here in Los Angeles. And my dear friend Laura gave me a beautiful gift when I was visiting her and her husband Richard uh during Halloween. It's a It's a handmade uh wooden almost looks almost like a bridge with uh tea lightss on it and
9:08 they're uh they're battery operated tea lightss in these beautiful uh uh blown glass cups and they they shimmer just like real lights. So, uh it's it's it's you know nice and uh warm feeling here uh on a on a cold and rainy night. So, so this is my copy of Asab's Fables. You can see it's got great illustrations on it. Most there's mostly it's animals or it's all animals on the cover. A lot of a lot of the Ass fables are around
9:43 animals, animals that may be anthropomorphized. Um although there are sometimes people appear in them. And if you look here on the spine, you'll see there's there's one human character. And uh you'll notice here there's a rabbit and a tortoise because the famous uh story of the tortoise and the hair uh is an Asup's fable. So this book has so this this book is the illustrated junior library. So it's it's made for children. Uh the original uh Asup's
10:19 fables uh were uh written in in Greek. Asop. Uh, Asop was a was was a Greek. And, um, let's see. There's gosh, I think in this book there's, you know, close to 200 of them. So, uh, so I'll give you a just a brief history um of Asab's fables. So, as the term implies, a fable. It's a it's a very short story. Most of the stories in this book are only a page
10:54 long. Now, they may be abbreviated for children. [snorts] Uh but if if you're going to read something to your children, they're perfect. And um uh they um you know, they express a well, how I was thinking about how I wanted to explain this. You know, we're adults. uh our our values have I think long since been pretty well set. So I, you know, the idea of, you know, teaching us values, n really um but it's nice to be
11:30 reminded of them from time to time. And so reading these stories to our children um and I when my daughter was very small or very young I should say because she's still small um uh I used to read these to her and they're really delightful and they remind me of of um having them read to me as a child I think or maybe that's just in my imagination uh and and of you know the values that that I seek to live by. So, um they were they're as I
12:08 mentioned um they were at least traditionally attributed to Asop a storyteller who it's thought lived in Greece um during the 6th century BCE. Um very little if anything is known about Asop. Um there are scholars who believe that he never really existed. uh that this is you know it was sort of like a uh a persona dratus dramate um that was put together I don't know if that's the real word by the way you know a dramatic person so to speak
12:45 uh who uh uh you know who who originally came up with them um they were for centuries retold orally so they weren't originally written down there's no sort of copy of Asop's fables you know from 20 25 2600 years ago. Um like most stories of that time including uh are from the ancient from you know uh ancient history beowolf and such uh Gilgamesh um originally they were transmitted orally and so uh there's no sort of
13:22 authoritative text the way you might have for you know Mark Twain or even uh William Shakespeare you we have Shakespeare's first folio which is considered to be the authoritative text of all of his plays and sonnetss etc. Uh but um that is not the case with Asup's fables. So um so oh according to my notes yeah that I didn't so they were first compiled in written form around the 4th century u um BCE by various Greek writers. Uh so
14:00 they've been around for roughly 23 2400 years in in some kind of written form. Okay. Um and they were very very popular in both the Greek and the Roman worlds. So uh you know they they've been popular for a long long time. Um and and of course over time they were translated into uh numerous languages including English which is the language in which I read them. Um, and probably two of the most famous are ones that I've already mentioned, the fox and the grapes and
14:36 the tortoise and the hair. Uh, I'm going to I'm going to talk about some of the fables uh a little bit later in in the show. Um, but you'll you'll recognize several of the ones uh that that I mention and and read. I'm going to read a few of them to give you a sense of them. They're they're short. They're they're very piffy in many cases. Okay. So, as they as we do, right? Uh
15:14 what why am I talking about Asub's fables? Why should you care? Right? We're all adults as I mentioned a little while ago and and these stories are are best known for being these days especially read to children. Well, so I came up with six reasons. Um the first one is the moral lessons and every fable has a moral lesson that is at the crux of the tale. uh they are absolutely timeless and as I mentioned a couple of minutes
15:49 ago uh I I don't I wouldn't expect reading you know Asab's fables to change your uh you know your values uh but it's it's good to remind ourselves [snorts] of our values and I I think in some cases to hold in in the back of our minds a charming story to illustrate something makes it easier to call them back. Uh that's one of the reasons why I like Asab's fables as well. Uh number two, the storytelling is absolutely engaging.
16:27 Uh the anthropomorphizing of the animals, uh the way the characters interact. Uh again, I I I'm going to use this word a lot with respect to Asop's fables, but they are charming. And there's just not a lot in uh our society anymore that qualifies as charming. Uh there's Reese Witherspoon still to this day. So uh you know uh and and um I I won't go into the story um but but I can tell you firsthand that she
17:03 has been charming. Uh well certain you know her whole fil many of her films are incredibly charming. Uh whether it's Sweetome Alabama, whether it's uh Legally Blonde. Uh but uh um uh the only time I ever interacted with her uh was when she was a teenager and it it was clear uh the she even under the circumstances uh through which we met just an enormously charming
17:39 uh young woman. Uh so you know beyond Miss Witherspoon uh I can't think of anything you nothing comes to mind in terms of of of charming. No no yeah no not charming elegant but not charming. So okay so anyway um Asub's fables also give us cultural in insight into our culture or or if you will more of the sort of genesis of our culture. So uh I I think that though they came out of uh you know Greek
18:16 society for those of us who follow the Judeo-Christian tradition uh they they absolutely ring true uh uh you know with u with how we uh look at at life. Uh and so um and they also um [snorts] at the same time give us a window into Greek society and Greek culture. Uh give us a a basis for understanding it. And uh you know Greece Greece and Rome
18:52 cultural Greece and Rome anyway form a a significant part of the foundation of Western culture. Uh I I talked um a few shows ago about uh Greek uh dramatic literature which is is at least as far as I know the original uh uh dramatic literature and and so to have insight into that genesis I think is is important in understanding our own time. [snorts]
19:29 Uh next they give us an opportunity to improve our critical thinking. So the moral of of each fable is not necessarily obvious. So we need to ponder them a little bit uh and to figure out what is as trying to tell me, right? And that's that's a very valuable exercise. Keeps our brains young if nothing else. Okay. Uh I I mentioned this already. They're suitable for all ages, small children, you know, older
20:07 children. I think teenagers could uh benefit from reading them, although they probably don't want to have them read to them the way a child might. And and adults, uh you know, it's they are stories that we can they are perennial stories. we can keep coming back to them year after year, you know, time after time in our lives. And then uh finally, I think they inspire a sense of creativity. So the way animals the animals act, interact with each other, interact with
20:43 people, uh you I mean you can see it throughout especially children's literature. You look at something like uh Alice in Wonderland and and through the looking glass and what she found there Lewis Carol. So you can see in Asup's fables the antecedance to you know other great works like like Lewis Carol's work um like um uh shoot uh Toad Hall um
21:20 I'm trying to think of the name of the book. Um Um I can't think of the name of that book. Um but also uh gosh, I had another one in mind now. I don't I don't know what's what's happening to my memory. Um uh uh um song uh so in in uh um Uncle Tom's Cabin, the tales of of Breer Rabbit and Breer Bear and Brier Fox um you know definitely are are you know an
21:55 echo. I I don't know that Harriet Beecher Stowe had read Asup's fables. I suspect she had. [snorts] Uh so there's there's lots of uh books that seem to connect to this original idea of of animals sort of acting like humans. Okay. And and so I I think they can inspire our own creativity and and it it certainly appears as if they inspired the c creativity uh of of others like I said especially the writers of of
22:30 children's books. um you know, Three Little Pigs, that's another one that comes to mind. Um uh Charlotte's Web, um you know, Evie Eevee White, um um so so many of them. [snorts] So, okay. So, that's that's why I think you should read and they're they're short, so you know, you're not making a major commitment. you know, you can you can you can just kind of read them uh a as you can. Okay. So, um I I picked out um
23:06 eight um of them to read and so you can sit back. How how long ago was it that somebody read to you, right? Uncle Kevin's going to read to you now. So, uh but no, I I you know, it's a cold, rainy night, at least here in Los Angeles. So, you know, let's let's read some stories together. Okay. So, the first one is the Ant and the Grasshopper. Now,
23:41 [snorts] if you're a a classic Walt Disney fan, this was made into a cartoon. I think it was one of the silly symphonies if I'm not mistaken. I could be wrong about that. Okay. And uh so here's the story. One frosty autumn day, an ant was busily storing away some of the kernels of wheat which he had gathered during the summer to tide him over the coming winter. A grasshopper, half perishing from hunger, came blimping by. Perceiving
24:18 what the industrious ant was doing, he asked for a morsel from the ant's store to save his life. "What were you doing all during the summer while I was busy harvesting?" inquired the ant. "Oh," replied the grasshopper. "I was not idle. I was singing and chirping all day long. Well, said the ant, smiling grimly as he locked his greenery door. Since you sang all summer, it looks like it looks as though you would have to
24:54 dance all winter. Maybe that seems kind of harsh uh by our standards. Uh but um right. So the moral of the story at least according to this particular version it is thrifty to prepare today for the wants of tomorrow or in adult terms delay gratification. Right? Delaying gratification is what allows us to accumulate wealth and all that kind of stuff. I don't want to get into finances. That's my other shows. But
25:31 that's that's the moral here. Okay. So the ant and the grasshopper. Um, one of the I think five best known of Asop's fables. Okay, the next one is the basis for our cocktail. Okay, the fox and the grapes. Mr. Fox was just about famished and thirsty, too, when he stole in when he stole into a vineyard where the sun ripened grapes were hanging on a trellis in a tempting show, but too high for him
26:06 to reach. He took a run and a jump, snapping at the nearest bunch, but missed. Again and again he jumped only to miss the luscious prize. At last, worn out with his efforts, he retreated, muttering, "Well, I never really wanted those grapes anyway. I am sure they are sour and perhaps wormy in the bargain." Right? And the moral is
26:42 any fool can despise what he cannot get. Right? And maybe we I I certainly I've caught myself at times saying rather uh shall we say catty things. [snorts] Uh and then when I caught myself I realized no this is coming from a place of jealousy. somebody else was able to accomplish something or do something or had something that I wanted that for whatever reason I couldn't do or I was unable to get for
27:17 myself and rather than be envious of them I was dismissive or worse uh toward them and of course the tale of the fox and the grapes right illustrates that for us and and you know again this is why I think it's so good to read read Asup's fables because they can help us reflect on our own behavior and and hopefully uh improve it. Okay. Next, we're used to hearing this tale called the the tortoise and the hair. Um this
27:54 version calls it the hair and the tortoise. Okay. This one's a little bit this is a little bit longer uh than the first two. Okay. All right. A hair was continually poking fun at a tortoise because of the slowness of his pace. The tortoise tried not to be annoyed by the jeers of the hair. But one day, in the presence of the other animals, he was goated into challenging the hair to a foot race. "Why, this is a joke," said the hair. "You know that I can run circles around you." Enough of your
28:31 boasting, said the tortoise. Let's get on with the race. So the course was set by the animals, and the fox was chosen as judge. He gave a sharp bark, and the race was on. Almost before you could say scat, the hair was out of sight. The tortoise plotting along plotted along at his usual unhurried pace. After a time, the hair stopped to wait for the tortoise to come along. He waited for a long, long time until he
29:09 began to get sleepy. I'll just take a quick nap here in the soft grass, and then in the cool of the day, I'll finish the race." So he laid down and closed his eyes. Meanwhile, the tortoise plotted on. He passed the sleeping hair and was approaching the finish line when the hair awoke with a start. It was too late to save the race. Much ashamed, he crept away while all
29:47 the animals at the finish line acclaimed the winner. And of course, the famous moral of the hair and the tortoise is right, slow and steady wins the race. Right? So my my friend Michael says, uh, I think it's slow is sure and sure is fast. Right? Sometimes we're in such a hurry, we end up botching whatever it is we're doing and then we have to do it again. which means
30:23 we've taken a lot more time than we needed to if we had just slow and steady, keep on track. That's what wins the race. Okay, let's see. So, the next one is usually known as the boy who cried wolf. In this version, it's called the shepherd boy and the wolf. Okay. Every day, the shepherd boy was sent with his father's sheep into the mountain pasture to guard the flock. It was indeed a lonely spot at the edge
30:59 of a dark forest, and there were no companions with whom he could pass the long, weary hours of the day. One day, just to stir up some excitement, he reached down. He rushed down from the pasture, CRYING, "WOLF! WOLF! The villagers heard the alarm and came running with clubs and guns to help chase the marauder away, only to find the sheep grazing peacefully, and no wolf in sight. So well had the trick worked that the
31:35 foolish boy tried it again and again, and each time the villagers came running, only to be laughed at for their pains. that there came a day when a wolf really came. The boy screamed and called for help, but all in vain. The neighbors, supposing him to be up to his old tricks, paid no heed to his cries, and the wolf devoured the sheep.
32:12 Right? And of course again one of the most absolutely most famous of ASub's fables [snorts] right and the moral of this story is of course liars are not believed even when they tell the truth right okay and the last of I think the five uh most uh popular or well-known uh fables uh is the lion and the mouse okay and Uh um this one is is two. It's a little bit longer than than the than
32:48 uh the first two. Um but but it's uh a absolutely charming. Okay. A lion was asleep in his den one day when an mischievous mouse, for no reason at all, ran across the outstretched paw and up the royal nose of the king of beasts, awakening from his nap. The mighty beast clapped his paw upon the now thoroughly frightened little creature, and would have made an end of him. "Please!" squeaked the mouse. Don't kill
33:23 me. Forgive me this time, O king, and I shall never forget it. A day may come, who knows, when I may do you a good turn to repay your kindness." The lion, smiling at his little prisoner's fright, and amused by the thought that so small a creature could ever be of assistance to the king of beasts, let him go. Not long afterward, the lion, while ranging the forest for his prey, was
33:58 caught in the net which the hunters had set to catch him. He let out a roar that echoed through the forest. Even the mouse heard it, and recognizing the voice of his former preserver and friend, ran to the spot where he lay tangled in the net of ropes. Well, your ma Well, your majesty, said the mouse, I know you did not believe me once when I said I would return a kindness, but here is my chance.
34:34 And without further ado, he set to work set to work to nibble with his sharp little teeth at the ropes that bound the lion. Soon the lion was able to crawl out of the hunter's snare and be free. Right? And of course, the great great lesson from the story of the lion and the mouse is that no deed of kindness, however small, uh is is ever wasted. It's never insignificant.
35:11 Right? What a what a lovely lesson to to teach our children. What a lovely [snorts] story to remind us of such a simple truth. Sorry about the noise. All right. So, I picked three more of what I think are the most impactful uh of the lesser known of Asup's fables.
35:48 Okay, so let's see. Here we go. Okay, so the first one is called The Miller, his son, and their donkey. This one's also a little bit a little a little on the longer side. Actually, this is the longest one I'm going to read. Okay. A miller and his son were driving their donkey to a neighboring fair to sell him. They had not gone far when they met a group of girls returning from town, laughing and talking together. "Look there," one of them cried. "Did you ever see such fools to be trudging along the
36:23 road on foot when they ought to be riding?" So the man put the boy on the donkey and they went on their way. Presently they came up to a group of old men in earnest debate. There said one of them. That proves exactly what what I was saying. No one pays any respect to the old to old age in these days. Look at that idle young rogue riding while his poor old father has to walk. Get down you lazy lout and let the old man rest his weary bone
36:58 weary limbs. The miller made his son dismount and got on the donkey's back in his place. And this in this and in this manner they proceeded along the way until they met a company of women and children. Why, shame on you, lazy bones, they cried. How can you ride while that poor little lad can hardly keep up with you? The good miller, wishing to please, took up his son to sit behind him. But just as they reached the edge of the
37:34 village, a townsman called out to them, "I have a good mind to report you to the authorities for overloading that poor beast so shamelessly. You big hulking fellows should better be able to car should better be able to carry that donkey than the other way around. So al lighting the miller and his son tied the beast's legs together and with a pole across their shoulders carried the donkey over the bridge that led to the town.
38:10 This was such an entertaining sight to the town's folk that crowds came out to laugh at it. The poor animal, frightened by the uproar, began to struggle to free himself. In the midst of the turmoil, the donkey slipped off the pole and over the rail of the bridge into the water and was drowned. And of course, the moral is try to please all and you end up by pleasing none.
38:45 It's so easy to fall for the criticism of others or to feel like we have to match up to other people's expectations when really what's most important is that we live up to our loved ones expectations and our own expectations. Right? Okay. Uh the next of the little known but impactful uh tales is called the crow and the
39:20 pitcher. A crow so thirsty that he could not even caw came upon a pitcher which once had been full of water. But when he put his beak into the pitcher's mouth, he found that only a little little water was left in it. Strive and strive as he might, he was not able to reach far enough down to get at it. He tried to break the pitcher, then to then to overturn it, but his strength was not equal to the task.
39:56 Just as he just as he was about to give up in despair, a thought came to him. He picked up a pebble and dropped it into the pitcher. Then he took another pebble and dropped that in the picture. One by one he kept dropping pebbles into the pitcher until the water mounted to the brim. Then perching himself upon the handle, he drank and drank while his thirst was quenched. Right. Necessity is after all the mother of invention,
40:33 right? But what a what a really cute way of illustrating that story. Okay. And the last one, the last one is called the wind and the sun. And uh okay, here we go. A dispute once arose between the wind and the sun over which was the stronger
41:08 of the two. There seemed to be no way of settling the issue. But suddenly they saw a traveler coming down the road. This is our chance, said the son, to prove who is right. Whichever of us can make that man take off his coat shall be the stronger. And just to show you how sure I am, I'll let you have the first chance. So the h son hid behind a cloud
41:43 and the wind blew an icy blast. But the harder he blew, the more closely did the traveler wrap his coat around him. At last, the wind had to give up in disgust. The sun came out from behind the cloud and began to shine down upon the traveler with all his power. The traveler felt the sun's genial warmth, and as he grew warmer and warmer, he began to loosen his coat. Finally, he was forced to take it off
42:20 altogether and to sit down in the shade of a tree and fan himself. So, the son was right after all. Right. And the moral of this, this is one of those where I don't think the moral is particularly obvious, but uh uh the moral is persuasion is better than force. Right? The wind is blowing and blowing trying to get him to take his coat off and the sun just comes out and warms him and warms him until
42:55 the man of his own valition, you know, is persuaded to take his coat off. So those are Asup's fables. There's, you know, a hundred plus more of them. um all charming tales nourishing for the soul. And so whether it's for you, your grandchild, your children, your grandchildren, your your uh I can never remember if he's my uh
43:32 grand nephew. I think he's my grand nephew, not my great nephew. I think I'm his great uncle, but he's he's my grand nephew. Uh, you know, I hope someday to be able to read them to him. He's a little young now, uh, not even a year old, so I don't think, uh, he'd quite get them. Uh, but, uh, they're they're wonderful stories. You know, um, these days when, uh, the day is shorter and the weather is chillier to sit with a child and and read them some wonderful stories, maybe with a cup of hot chocolate. Um, you can always put a nip of uh whiskey into your chocolate
44:09 if you want to. Okay, no one will tell. Uh, you know what a what a wonderful way to spend uh a little bit of time on a late fall and winter evening. So, I I thank you so much for joining me and uh this Thanksgiving is is next week. speaking of the fall, late fall. And so, uh, I wish you and yours, uh, the most meaningful and wonderful Thanksgiving. I hope you have an opportunity to spend it with, uh,
44:46 people, um, about whom you you care and love deeply, and you have wonderful food, whether you're having the traditional turkey or something less traditional. and uh look forward to seeing you at Jigger's place again in a couple of weeks. And uh that only leaves me to to do my sign off. Uh I never got uh to talk about Asup's fables with my dear Marie. Uh I wish I had. I I have a feeling she she would have loved them.
45:23 But uh just a reminder, Marie Darling up in up in Shamim up in heaven, you are my bell. Courage at all times, my friends.