Let's CUT! To The Chase...

Someone famous once said, "there are no original stories." Every tale is just a version of one of a handful that has been told time and time again.

That sounds deep, I know, but in school this week, we've been talking about re-tellings, fables, and specifically, Aesop's Fables, and it got me thinking about the Superman Duffy graphic novel, CUT! TO THE CHASE...

The book is a modern version of the famous Aesop story, The Tortoise and the Hare. Even if you're not learning about it in school, you probably know the story—a slow turtle, a fast rabbit, and a race that ends with an unexpected lesson.

The lesson in the Superman Duffy book is centred on nutrition, but of course there's a great story around it—in which "comic me" gets to flex his school theatre muscles. If you've read the book, you know who ends up being the tortoise (hint: it's either me or my nemesis Gordon Lightning Smith). And if you haven't read it, you can order CUT! TO THE CHASE... (and the entire set of Superman Duffy educational graphic novels) from the Alberta Canola Producers' Commission.

By the way, did you know that quite a few of the expressions we use everyday are inspired by Aesop's fables? “Slow and steady wins the race” is obviously from The Tortoise and the Hare. But, did you know that “Honesty is the best policy” is from Aesop’s tale Mercury and the Woodsman or that “Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill” is from the story, The Mountain in Labor?

My mom always tells me not to “count my chickens before they hatch” — she probably doesn’t even realize that expression comes from Aesop’s fable, The Milkmaid and her Pail. And sometimes, I forget to “look before you leap” which is, you guessed it, another expression from an Aesop story, The Fox and the Goat.

“Birds of a feather flock together” comes from the Farmer and the Stork and to have “sour grapes” was first used in Aesop’s tale, The Fox and the Grapes. Who knew?

Wow. Aesop really did write a lot about animals! I guess it comes down to “quality, not quantity” — <grin> see what I did there? That saying is from Aesop’s tale, The Lioness and the Vixen.

Gotta jet! Hope your first week at school was fantastic!

— Chase Superman Duffy