PodCastle Miniature 011: The Fable of the Moth

[Heradel]

PodCastle Miniature 011: The Fable of the Moth

By Peter S. Beagle
Read by Stephen Eley (of Escape Pod)

Once there was a young moth who did not believe that the proper end for all mothkind was a zish and a frizzle. Whenever he saw a friend or a cousin or a total stranger rushing to a rendezvous with a menorah or a Coleman stove, he could feel a bit of his heart blacken and crumble. One evening, he called all the moths of the world together and preached to them. “Consider the sweetness of the world,” he cried passionately. “Consider the moon, consider wet grass, consider company. Consider glove linings, camel’s hair coats, fur stoles, feather boas, consider the heartbreaking, lost-innocence flavor of cashmere. Life is good, and love is all that matters. Why will we seek death, why do we truly hunger for nothing but the hateful hug of the candle, the bitter kiss of the filament? Accidents of the universe we may be, but we are beautiful accidents and we must not live as though we were ugly. The flame is a cheat, and love is the only.”

Rated G. Contains philosophical meanderings.

[Chivalrybean]

Interesting.

[hatton]

I like a good fable now and then - and this one can definitely be considered a good fable.  I just wish we could get Sponge Bob, Power Rangers and other nonsense off the kid's networks for at least one or two airings out of the day and put cartoon versions of Aesop's back on the air.  Might help teach the kids something rather than just rot their brains with jellyfish and "zords" (whatever the hell those are)

Steve's reading was spot on and the time and tale is appropriate for today, great choice!

[eekhout]

Strangely, I'm not seeing this one posted on the main page. The only place I'm finding it linked to is this comment thread.

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Greg van Eekhout

[Heradel]

Strangely, I'm not seeing this one posted on the main page. The only place I'm finding it linked to is this comment thread.

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Greg van Eekhout

I had some trouble seeing it at first, but I do see it there now — It went up when the websites were going all to hell, so I think that accounts for it.

[Rachel Swirsky]

Steve says he should have fixed the problem that was keeping the story from showing up on the main page. Anyone who wants to refresh and check, we'd appreciate it.

[eekhout]

Steve says he should have fixed the problem that was keeping the story from showing up on the main page. Anyone who wants to refresh and check, we'd appreciate it.

Ah, and there it is!

--
Greg van Eekhout

[Chivalrybean]

I like a good fable now and then - and this one can definitely be considered a good fable.  I just wish we could get Sponge Bob, Power Rangers and other nonsense off the kid's networks for at least one or two airings out of the day and put cartoon versions of Aesop's back on the air.  Might help teach the kids something rather than just rot their brains with jellyfish and "zords" (whatever the hell those are)

Steve's reading was spot on and the time and tale is appropriate for today, great choice!

While I have detected some deeper meanings in Spongebob, they could do better, yes, to teach important lessons.

[Ocicat]

When I first saw this on my iPod, I thought it said "The Fable of the Month"

I thought: "what, we get a fable every month now?  No, that doesn't make any sense... it's the title.  It must be a fable about months, like with a personified February and cranky old December.  No, wait... Moth.  That's different.  Nevermind."

[Myrealana]

Wow, I know so many people who need to read this story.

Including myself.

/grumble grumble I don't WANT a salad for lunch. WANT CHEESEBURGER! Grumble grumble.

[ryos]

I'm not sure it was worth a whole piece of fiction to get to the nugget, the final line: "Everyone knows better, and that's the problem."

That, or the explanation of the moral should have been left off. Either it or the story is superfluous, and right now, I'm leaning towards cutting the story.

[cede]

i really like this, mostly because i hate moths and am glad they like burning

[JoeFitz]

I'm not sure it was worth a whole piece of fiction to get to the nugget, the final line: "Everyone knows better, and that's the problem."

That, or the explanation of the moral should have been left off. Either it or the story is superfluous, and right now, I'm leaning towards cutting the story.

Amen.

[Unblinking]

This was my favorite of the Beagle fables.  The story is not only interesting, but the fable speaks the truth very well.  In this day and age we have a pretty good idea what's bad for us, and then we tend to do it anyway!