The Fables of Power – Old grudges, new costumes, timeless quarrels
📖 The Jester of NATO 🤡
✍️ Introduction
Once a proud leader of the Lowlands, he now wears a cap of bells and dances for an audience across the sea. He calls it diplomacy, but the laughter in the hall is not with him — it is at him.
🎭The summit of happiness is reached when a person is ready to be what he is.”
—Erasmus
🪄 The Tale
The Jester had once been a statesman, a proud and pious leader of the Lowlands, known for his thrift and political instinct. But ambition whispered to him, and so he traded his robes for motley, his sceptre for juggling pins.
He strutted into the great hall of NATO, bowing deeply to the Mob Boss across the ocean. When the Mob Boss smiled, the Jester smiled; when the Mob Boss laughed, the Jester laughed louder still.
He juggled budgets, promises, and borrowed phrases, always trying to keep the balls in the air. To his old friends in Europe he waved, but always with one hand tied behind his back. When they asked for loyalty, he grinned and pointed to the Mob Boss, as if to say: “What can I do? The bells make me dance.”
The courtiers clapped as he capered. But the more he danced, the more he stumbled. The bells on his cap rang louder with every misstep, until at last the laughter of the hall was no longer applause — but mockery.
⚖️ Moral of the Tale
He who serves too many masters becomes the fool of them all.
🎭 Closing Line
The stage of the world is never empty. The next fable is already being written…
🧱 Next Fable Preview
The Emperor’s New Walls
A ruler builds barriers so tall the sun itself cannot climb them — only to discover they trap his own people inside.
📌 Blog Excerpt
Once a statesman, now a jester, he capers through NATO’s grand hall — bowing to the Mob Boss, waving to Europe, and tripping over his own bells. The applause he hears is no longer admiration, but mockery.
WJJH, September, 2025
In what kind of world do we wish to live 