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The Travellers and the Axe
A golden double-headed axe, ca. 1700-1450 BC, Crete.
This golden double-headed axe was recovered from the Arkalochori cave on Crete, as part of a small but impressive hoard dating back to 1700-1450 BC. The collection includes swords, daggers and axes, apparently for sacred use, as well as ingots of copper and sheets of gold. Perhaps the axe in Aesop’s Fable excited such passions because it was of this sacred kind.
Back to text
This golden double-headed axe was recovered from the Arkalochori cave on Crete, as part of a small but impressive hoard dating back to 1700-1450 BC. The collection includes swords, daggers and axes, apparently for sacred use, as well as ingots of copper and sheets of gold. Perhaps the axe in Aesop’s Fable excited such passions because it was of this sacred kind.
Introduction
A well-known politician once told entrepreneurs to stand back, look at their handiwork and say not ‘I built that!’ but ‘We built that!’, since no one does anything without the help of wider society. On the surface, this little Aesop’s Fable appears to back him up: the reader must be left to judge how deep the similarity goes.
As two Men were travelling through a wood, one of them took up an axe which he saw lying upon the ground. “Look here,” said he to his companion, “I have found an axe.”
“Don’t say ‘I have found it’ says the other, “but ‘We have found it.’ As we are companions, we ought to share it between us.” The first would not, however, consent.
They had not gone far, when they heard the owner of the axe calling after them in a great passion. “We are in for it!” said he who had the axe. Nay,” answered the other, “say, ‘I’m in for it!’ not ‘We’. You would not let me share the prize, and I am not going to share the danger.”
From ‘Aesop’s Fables’ (1878) revised and rewritten by Joseph Benjamin Rundell.
1. What is the author aiming to achieve in writing this?
2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that strike you. How do they help the author communicate his ideas more effectively?
3. What impression does this passage make on you? How might you put that impression into words?
Based on The English Critic (1939) by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn, Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University, USA.
A man who stumbled across an axe claimed it for himself, much to his companion’s annoyance. When the rightful owners came along, the finder assumed his friend would share the blame; but his friend refused, saying that after being denied a share in the axe, he accepted no share in any punishment. (52 / 60 words)
A man who stumbled across an axe claimed it for himself, much to his companion’s annoyance. When the rightful owners came along, the finder assumed his friend would share the blame; but his friend refused, saying that after being denied a share in the axe, he accepted no share in any punishment.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 45 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, although, because, just, must, ought, unless, whereas.
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Axe. Great. Lie.
2 But. Go. Share.
3 Between. Consent. However.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
High Tiles Find in Think and Speak
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
Your Words ()
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Picture: © Gary Kramer / US Fish and Wildlife Service, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.. Source.
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Picture: © Juanedc, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.. Source.
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