The Fable of the Spider

by Barry J. Northern

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Two orb-spiders burst from their silky cocoon. They beheld a riot of shapes and colours. Earthy browns led up bowed plant-spires to a blue expanse where the great webs sparkled.

One spider turned to his brother and said. "Look at those webs. How fat the spiders who live in those towers are. How good it is for them to live such a life."

His brother replied. "Oh, to build a web like that."

A great shadow passed over the two spiders, blocking out the sky. A feathered monster shrieked upon them, and it was then each learnt there were also horrors in the world. Many of their brothers and sisters were taken, but the brothers survived, though one with only seven legs.

A great shadow passed over the two spiders

After weaving many webs, Eight spoke to Seven. "It is time for us to part, for it is the way of our kind to live alone in our webs. It is time to build your own. Now take my advice. Seek out a dark corner as I have done, away from the monsters in the sky. Also, don't exert yourself, and you won't need to feed so often."

But Seven had only one thought. He said farewell to his brother, and set off for the webs in the sky.

He climbed towards the fat spiders to see their beautiful homes, aching to be among their splendour, the brightest object in his world. Though he struggled without his right-back leg, each time he slid down, he climbed up again. Though he had to hide from feathered monsters, he did not shrink back to the shadows. And so, by evening, he was among the webs in the sky.

He stared about as if in a dream, uncaring of his footing, and trod upon a thick, non-sticky prey-line. The fattest spider of them all belied its slothful aspect and was upon him in an instant, fangs raised. Seven shrank back, and called out to it.

"Sir! Forgive me. I only wished to see your beautiful web!"

The fat spider settled down. "A youngling. It has been so long since I last saw one." It was then Seven saw all the fat spider's eyes save one were cloudy with age, though the one that remained shone with vitality. "You are lucky you trod upon my prey-line, for a youngling like you would make a fine meal for most of my fellows. You admire my web then, youngling?"

"Yes, sir. My brother told me to build my own web. I so wish I could build one as magnificent as this."

"It is good for you to dream, youngling. What else did your brother tell you?"

"Not to exert myself, sir."

"Did he?"

"Yes, sir. And to build a small web in a dark corner on account of my missing leg, sir."

"Ah. Now there we have it you see. Tell me. Do you know of any other creature in our world that has eight legs?"

Seven thought for a moment, and then replied that he did not.

Every web is a gift to Our Lord El'Araned

"Well, youngling, that is because Our Lord El'Araned made only one creature in his own image – us. So you see, even though you have lost one leg, you still have one more than the juicy-ones, three more than the furry beasts in the canopies, and five more than the feathered monsters. So my advice to you is this. Follow your dreams. Build a web as big and as high as you can, for then you will catch many juicy-ones and grow quickly. Also, as you get bigger, always build as big and as high as you can. Never say to yourself 'this web will do', for every web is a gift to Our Lord El'Araned."

The fat spider let Seven spin his first line there, it caught the breeze and soon found purchase. This is how Seven took his first step towards his dreams.

Two summers passed, and Eight crawled from his hole to watch his sons and daughters burst out into the world. He chuckled at their delighted amazement, knowing it would not last, for the world was a cold, hard place.

He looked up into the sky for the first time in years, and beheld the great webs there, turned to his wife, and said. "Look at those fat spiders, showing off their wealth. I wager they laugh to see us down here, crawling about in the mud. Oh to be high-born. Life isn't fair." Then he shouted after his sons and daughters. "Don't climb up there! Quick! Get inside before the feathered monsters come to gobble you up!" Many came back, but one youngling's heart soared when he beheld the webs in the sky.

It took the youngling two full days to climb up, and once there he called out to the fattest spider. "Hey, mister! My dad says you're rich because you are high born, and that life isn't fair. How come your web is so big?"

The fat spider crawled over, and spoke to the youngling. "Look at me well. I achieved all this with only seven legs, how much easier will it be for you? You can stare up at us in jealousy , or you can work hard and build webs in the sky.
The choice is yours." Friday Fables is now distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales license, which means you can share it, but not sell it, and while you are free to modify it, you must share it on the same license, just as we have with the music kindly provided by magnatune.com.

Artist: David Modica
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