Meshal Haqadmoni: Fables from the Distant Past: A Parallel Hebrew-English Text, Volume II

Title

en_US Meshal Haqadmoni: Fables from the Distant Past: A Parallel Hebrew-English Text, Volume II

Description

en_US This is a hardbound book (hard cover)

en_US This book has a dust jacket (book cover)

en_US Language note: Bilingual: English/Hebrew

en_US Original language: heb

en_US Isaac Ibn Sahula; Edited and Translated by Raphael Loewe

Creator

en_US Loewe, Raphael See all items with this value

Date

2016-01-25T20:04:42Z

en_US 2010-09

en_US 2004

Date Available

2016-01-25T20:04:42Z

Date Issued

en_US 2004

Abstract

en_US My listing for the first volume includes comments on the work as a whole. This volume consists of the final three parts. I read in some detail the fifth book's story of The Stork and the Frog. The story is simple enough. A stork eats frogs every day but finds one eluding her. She puts special effort into tracking this frog and then holds a sustained debate with her. The stork argues determinism. Everything is set. The frog's fate is sealed. She should give up efforts to save herself. The frog stresses free will. She will escape evil as long as she can. The stork tells the long Old Testament story of the king who asks four independent astrologers to forecast his newborn son's fate. All predict varied deaths for the son at the age of twenty-five. The king is about to put them all to death when a wise counselor suggests that he wait to see if their prophecies come true. At the age of twenty-five, the son is caught in a storm and dies. Each of the prophecies in its own way turned out to be true. So it was all predestined. When the frog continues to contend, the stork physically grabs hold of her, takes her home, and makes her into a meal for the stork family. Here this story takes 56 pages, from 556 to 612. Each astrologer teaches a short course on astrology before making his prediction. I struggled in vain to find a few short fables that I could read more quickly. Kalila and Dimna likewise has extended stories, but it includes short fables within each of those extended stories. So much here is supposedly enlightened disquisition from philosophy, the sciences, and scripture!

Identifier

en_US 7289 (Access ID)

uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10504/82562

Language

en_US eng

Publisher

en_US The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization

en_US Oxford

Subject

en_US PJ5050.S2M413 2004 See all items with this value

en_US Isaac Ibn Sahula See all items with this value

en_US Title Page Scanned See all items with this value

Type

en_US Book, Whole