Have you read the Animal School by George Reavis which was
written in the 1940s?
The Animal School
Once upon a time the animals decided they must do something
heroic to meet the problems of a “new world” so they organized a school.
They had adopted an activity curriculum consisting of
running, climbing, swimming and flying. To make it easier to administer the
curriculum, all the animals took all the subjects.
The duck was excellent in swimming. In fact, better than his
instructor. But he made only passing grades in flying and was very poor in
running. Since he was slow in running, he had to stay after school and also
drop swimming in order to practice running. This was kept up until his webbed feet
were badly worn and he was only average in swimming. But average was acceptable
in school so nobody worried about that, except the duck.
The rabbit started at the top of the class in running but
had a nervous breakdown because of so much makeup work in swimming. The
squirrel was excellent in climbing until he developed frustration in the flying
class where his teacher made him start from the ground up instead of the
treetop down. He also developed a “charlie horse” from overexertion and then
got a C in climbing and D in running.
The eagle was a problem child and was disciplined severely.
In the climbing class, he beat all the others to the top of the tree but
insisted on using his own way to get there.
At the end of the year, an abnormal eel that could swim
exceeding well and also run, climb and fly a little had the highest average and
was valedictorian.
The prairie dogs stayed out of school and fought the tax
levy because the administration would not add digging and burrowing to the
curriculum. They apprenticed their children to a badger and later joined the
groundhogs and gophers to start a successful private school.
Does this fable have a moral?
Questions
Do you identify with any animal in the story?
In this story, each animal knows what it is good at. What
about you? Do you know your strengths and weaknesses? If yes, are you living
your life according to your strengths? If not, why not try to discover yours?
For example I have found Clifton's Strengths Finder rather useful.