Commentary
If a word or phrase, including the title of a particular fable, is unfamiliar and the commentary adjacent to each array provides no explication, try
Googling the word or phrase.
'Multinash' is a newly coined abbreviation of the author's own creation meaning 'multinational.' Such an individual (a multinash, not the author, of course) might well elect to spell 'Aesop' using an Old English ash and a Hebrew shin as his arch accompaniment to a Greek omicron and pi.
The Attic Greek "Andra moi ennepe Mu-" are the opening seven syllables of Homer's epic The Odyssey, an anticipatory plagiarism of the Latin "Arma virumque cano" septet of Vergil's The Aeneid. Both are no-nonsense works of verbal art in contradistinction to the silliness reproduced here.
The German 'mit' and the English abbreviation 'litt' add to the multinational character of this opening array, as the French 'fou' does as well, while standing for 'fun.'
The physiognomy of Aesop's bust is based on a reading the The Aesop Romance, a compilation of several old vitae, which reveals the fabulist to have been one singularly unattractive storyteller. The bust of Homer appears to feature several facial characteristics of a certain animated cartoon personality.
The meter in this and throughout the other arrays is in dactyls, with lots of end- and internal rhymes.
(Appearing below are the Perry Index numbers corresponding to the fables of which the alphabet’s lopp’d verses, also appearing below, are the constrained treatments.)
Array One: A: Aesop the Fabulist, from The Aesop Romance.
A is for Aesop…’tis I!
“Multinash”? Spell it ‘ash, shin’…plus ‘omicron, pi’!
Hear we “Andra moi ennepe Mu-…”?
Not one whit! Here sits lit writ wit’ wit…mit litt’ bits fit for fou.
“Multinash”? Spell it ‘ash, shin’…plus ‘omicron, pi’!
Hear we “Andra moi ennepe Mu-…”?
Not one whit! Here sits lit writ wit’ wit…mit litt’ bits fit for fou.
Array Two: B:
Belling the Cat aka The Mice in Council, from Perry #613.
B’s for my “Belling the Cat.”
Point…?
To say’s
not to do! (Dudes like
you must know that.)
Array Three:
C: The Cock and the Jewel aka The Cock and the Pearl, from Perry #503,
and D: The
Dog in the Manger, from Perry #703.
C…? My “The Cock and the Jew’l.”
What’s its
gist…? Who’d persist fetchin’ frills finds…a fool.
D’s my “The Dog in the Manger.”
Who’d accrue without usin’…? “Gr-r-r-r-!”s any cur stranger…?
Array Four: E:
Ennus, adopted son of Aesop, from The
Aesop Romance.
E is for Ennus, my “scion.”
Me Enn jailed.
Oui!
Enn failed.
Enn’s no gens I’d rely on.
Array Five: F:
The Fawn and his Mother, from Perry #351,
and G: The
Gnat and the Bull, from Perry #137.
F’s my “The Faun and his Mother.”
No raison
favors fight – not when flight be one’s druther.
G’s my “The Gnat and the Bull.
‘Tis too true: you’re just you. Let not
pride pull the wool.
Array Six: H:
The Hare and the Tortoise, from Perry #226.
H…? My “The Hare and the Tortoise.”
Read ‘n’ weep:
Never sleep!
Are we thinkin’ Abe Fortas…?
Array Seven:
I: The Idol of Clay, from Perry #285.
I’s my “The Idol of Clay.”
Shan’t be troll’d, t pot [rau tjpigj upi
,ay.
Pours out gold when you break it one day.
(It appears the god hears – in his
roundabout way.)
Array Eight:
J: Jove and the Monkey, from Perry #364,
and K: The
King of the Frogs, from a later version of Perry #44.
J’s for my “Jove and the Monkey.”
Please to note: one’s son’s haut, be he fair-form’d or funky.
K’s for “The King of the Frogs.”
Lesson…? Don’t for storks sue. Do
make do with god’s logs.
Array Nine: L:
The Lion in Love, from Perry #140.
L’s my “The Lion in Love.”
Be that passion’s
irrational
cognizant of!
Array Ten: M:
The Miser’s Lost Gold, from Perry #225 (?).
M’s my “The Miser’s Lost gold.”
Nick’d: the lot! Nor would Cott* be
cajol’d.
“Still…” folks thought, “naught got
bought, naught got sold…
What’s amiss…?” Merely this: not one
dinar’d he doled!
*
Cotta’s the archetypal miser in A. Pope’s satirical epistle.
Array Eleven:
N: The Neat’s Tongues Adventure, from The
Aesop Romance,
and O: The
Old Man and Death, from Perry #60.
N…? My “The Neats’s Tongues Adventure,”
when our gallant’s droll talents proved
awkward to censure.
O’s my “The Old Man and Death.”
Don’t invite cure by Death. Death’s for
shite. Save your breath.
Array Twelve:
P: The Peacock and Juno, from Perry #509,
and Q: The
Quack Frog: a Fable, from Perry #289.
P…? My “The Peacock and Juno.”
On can’t have it all. Folks will call
one…well…you know.
Q’s my “The Quack Frog: a Fable.”
First, docteur:
thyself
cure – or deserve that ‘quack’ label.
Array
Thirteen: R: The Raven a Swan – from Perry #398,
and S: The
Stag at the Pool – from Perry #73.
R’s my “The Swan and the Raven.”
Change of scene doesn’t mean that one gets
all one’s cravin.’
S…? My “The Stage at the Pool.”
Don’t write off that which oft proves a
life-savin’ tool.
Array
Fourteen: T: The Thieves and a Cock, from Perry #122,
and U: The
United Four Oxen, from Perry #372.
T’s my “The Thieves ‘n’ a Cock.”
Your belief that a thief won’t undo you…?
A crock!
U…? “The Four Oxen, United.”
Graze alone, on your own…? Quick demise
you’re invitin.'
Array
Fifteen: V: The Vine and the Goat, from Perry #374,
and W: Wolf
and the Kid, from Perry #159 (?)
V is “The Vine ‘n’ the Goat.”
Break your fast: who’ll laugh last when’s
laid open your throat…?
W’s “Wolf ‘n’ the Kid”:
Actin’ smart ain’t no art when one’s
cautiously hid.
Array
Sixteen: X: Xanthus, Aesop’s master, from The
Aesop Romance,
and Y: A
Youth and his Mother, from Perry #364.
X is for Xanthus, my Master.
Had slave not been my lotm would’ve
my pastures proved vaster?
Y’s my “A Youth ‘n’ His Mother.”
Raise your child to run wild…? He’ll grow
up as no other.
Array
Seventeen: Z: The Zephyr/Sol War, from The North Wind and the Sun, Perry #46.
Z…? My “The Zephyr/Sol War.”
What beats force…?
Well, of course, exhortation will…
…or…
