September 20, 2018 Thursday
Bedtime Story
Bernard Mandeville and 'The Fable of the Bees'
Even the high priests and monks seek to
climb up the social ladder which eventually serves to spread their own genes.
And yet, as I extol the virtues of
frugality and thriftiness I wish to quote an abstract from a book or rather a
fable that was first available to public in 1714 ‘The Fable of the Bees: or,
Private Vices, Public Benefits’ written by a Dutch philosopher and political
analyst by the name of Bernard Mandeville who eventually spent most of his life
in England.
Mandeville had first published his poem
titled ‘The Grumbling Hive’ in 1705 which was later republished in 1714 as an
integral part of ‘Fable of the Bees: or Private Vices, Public Benefits’.
The fable came along with commentary called
Remarks and had in it an essay titled ‘An Enquiry into the Origin of the Moral
Virtue’.
Before I talk and discuss more on this
subject and the work, let us first go through this very insightful poem which
is an argument against frugality.
“A spacious Hive well stock’d with Bees,
That Lived in Luxury and Ease;
And yet as Fam’d for Laws and Arms,
As yielding large and early Swarms;
Was counted the great Nursery
Of Sciences and Industry.
No bees had better Government,
More Fickleness, or less Content.
They were not Slaves to Tyranny,
Nor rules by wide Democracy;
But Kings, that could no wrong, because
Their Power was circumscrib’d by Laws.”
The ‘hive’ is corrupt but prosperous, yet
it grumbles about lack of virtue.
A higher power decides to give them what
they ask for:
“But Jove, with Indignation moved,
At last in Anger swore, he’d rid
The bawling Hive of Fraud, and did.
The very Moment it departs,
And Honesty fills all their Hearts;”
This results in a rapid loss of prosperity,
though the newly virtuous hive does not mind:
“For many Thousand Bees were lost.
Hard’ned with Toils, and Exercise
They counted Ease it self a Vice;
Which so improved their Temperance;”
The poem is not over yet.
Stay tuned to the voice of an average story storytelling
chimpanzee or login at http://panarrans.blogspot.com
Good night Mon Ami and my fellow cousin ape.
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Another great educator and a teacher that I am aware of is
Professor Subhashish Chattopadhyay in Bangalore, India.
While I narrate stories, Professor Subhashish an electronic
engineer and a former professor at BARC, does and teaches real mathematics and
physics.
He started the participation of Indian students at the
International Physics Olympiad.
Do visit him here:
All his books can be downloaded for free through this link:
For edutainment and English education of your children, I
recommend this large collection of Halloween Songs for Kids:
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