Once upon a time there was a bird sanctuary in which
hundreds of Baltimore orioles lived together happily. The refuge consisted
of a forest entirely surrounded by a highwire fence. When it was put up,
a pack of foxes who lived nearby protested that it was an arbitrary and
unnatural boundary. However, they did nothing about it at the time because
they were interested in civilizing the geese and ducks on the neighboring
farms. When all the geese and ducks had been civilized, and there was nothing
left to eat, the foxes once more turned their attention to the bird sanctuary.
Their leader announced that there had once been foxes in the sanctuary
but that they had been driven out. He proclaimed that Baltimore orioles
belonged in Baltimore. He said, furthermore, that the orioles in the sanctuary
were a continuous menace to the peace of the world. The other animals cautioned
the foxes not to disturb the birds in their sanctuary.
So the foxes attacked the sanctuary one night and tore down the fence that surrounded it. The orioles rushed out and were instantly killed and eaten by the foxes.
The next day the leader of the foxes, a fox from whom
God was receiving daily guidance, got upon the rostrum and addressed the
other foxes. His message was simple and sublime. "You see before you another
Lincoln. We have liberated all those birds."
Moral: Government of the orioles, by the foxes, and for the foxes, must perish from the earth.
From: James Thurber, Fables for Our Time and Famous Poems Illustrated (New York, 1940), p. 53. Reproduced under fair use for use in by students in this course only