📖The Fable of Family Quarrels and the Distant Cousin🪢

The Fables of Power – Old grudges, new costumes, timeless quarrels

📖The Fable of Family Quarrels and the Distant Cousin 🪢

✍️ Introduction

Every family has its quarrels, and every cousin believes he deserves a larger share of the inheritance. In this family, the quarrel has gone on for generations — old grudges, misplaced loyalties, and endless disputes. And the bill for loyalty is always higher than expected.

🎭 The quarrels of friends are the opportunities of foes.”

—Aesop

🪄 The Tale

Once upon a time, in a peculiar family, there lived a cousin from the East. He was not much liked at gatherings — rough around the edges, too fond of drink, and always quarrelling with the Bear next door.

The Bear, for his part, was infamous: a suspicious brute who jealously guarded his den and struck violently whenever he felt threatened.

The eastern cousin, poor and often corrupt, dreamed of a brighter life with the cousins in the West, who had long prospered under the patronage of their Grandfather. This Grandfather, once the hero of the war against the German invader, had grown fabulously wealthy and convinced himself that the whole world should live as his family did. His favourite saying was: “You are either with us or against us.” And most of the family dutifully clapped along — even when he dragged them into costly feuds.

When the Bear saw his neighbour drifting toward the Grandfather’s circle, he grew restless. At last, with claws and teeth, he stormed the cousin’s house.

The invasion shocked the family. Out of generosity — and fear — the cousins in the West sent food, weapons, and shelter for the eastern cousin’s children. But the Bear was not easily driven back.

By then, the Grandfather’s chair had passed to a Mob Boss. This Boss did not speak of ideals but of business. He demanded tribute for protection, charged fees for his friendship, and muttered tariffs like curses. He called his racket “family values.”

There was also the Princess — Lady Europe. Elegant and well-schooled, she gave beautiful speeches about morality and peace. Yet when danger loomed, she fainted or begged others to pay the bills. She feared the Bear, adored the Boss, and dreaded nothing so much as standing on her own feet.

Meanwhile, the eastern cousin, battered and bleeding, leaned heavily on the others. The Princess opened her palace to his children. Richer cousins sent coins and weapons. Everyone congratulated themselves on their compassion. But the cousin kept asking for more: not just food and shelter, but shiny new toys, a seat at the main table, and a share of the Princess’s treasury.

🎭 Surely you owe me this,” he cried. “For I fight not only for myself, but for the whole family!”

Some cousins nodded solemnly. Others muttered about bottomless pockets and ungrateful guests. The Mob Boss demanded payment for every dagger and shield. The Bear growled louder, seeing threats even in shadows.

And so the family quarreled on.
The Princess wrung her hands.
The Mob Boss counted his coins.
The Bear roared at ghosts.
The eastern cousin pleaded without end.
And the rest of the family wondered: were they helping out of love, fear, or simply habit?

⚖️ Moral of the Tale

He who demands too much from family may end up eating alone.

🎭 Closing Line

The stage of the world is never empty. The next fable is already being written…

🐀 Next Fable Preview

The Rat Catcher of Harmelen
A piper with spun-sugar hair lures villagers with a tune of nostalgia, forgetting that no bread bakes itself once the strangers are gone.

📌 Blog Excerpt

At the endless family table, cousins quarrel over lands, debts, and loyalties. Old grudges resurface, new bills are sent, and the feast threatens to end in ruin. In this fable, inheritance is measured not in gold, but in quarrels without end. Beneath the surface lies a sharper truth: in the quarrels of nations, generosity is never enough, loyalty is always in doubt, and even happy endings arrive with a bill.

WJJH, September 2025