“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” ~ Leonardo da Vinci (Adopted by Steve Jobs)
The Gods were once arguing over whether it was possible for a living being to change its nature.
So, Jupiter turned a Cat into a Maiden, and he gave her to a young Man for a wife.
At the wedding-feast, Jupiter said to Venus, “See how she behaves — who could tell that only yesterday she was a Cat?” “But, we should wait and see,” replied Venus.
Venus then let loose a Mouse into the room.
Seeing the Mouse, the Bride jumped up from her seat, and then dove onto the ground pouncing upon the Mouse, wedding guests and bridal gown notwithstanding.
Moral of the Story: Sooner or later, a core nature will tend to be disclosed.
Introduction – The Essential Aesop – Epilogue
Why We Loved It: So, why does Aesop choose his Cat for this fable?
Well, because experience teaches us that cats have strong natural inclinations and core instincts that are difficult to keep repressed. This fable is Aesop’s 2,000 year old way of saying, “You can take the boy out of the country, but you cannot take the country out of the boy.“
The general rule—not the exception—is that the essential characteristic of a thing tends to persist, and, if repressed by constraint, is subject to resurfacing, notwithstanding its dormancy.
It may simply require the right trigger.
We remember, forewarned is forearmed, and Aesop’s lessons on wisdom are in the nature of warnings about human nature; that is, wisdom by prediction by tendencies. Thus the adage, “Sapientia perfectam esse non habet, sed astutam esse habet.” (“Wisdom does not have to be perfect, but it does have to be astute.”)
Aesop’s rule in this fable contradicts a hopeful narrative with a harsh reality about tendencies based upon experience. In short, a Lion might be artificially constrained to be like a Rabbit, and a Rabbit might be artificially constrained to be like a Lion, but, sooner or later, what something is by its nature will tend to resurface. Not always, but that is the tendency.
Aesop is not hoping about what should be, Aesop is teaching about what tends to be. There is a difference. Aesop exposes a common sense from experience.
Controlling—or perhaps repressing—core nature takes a great amount of personal framework integrity and discipline, because core nature is like water finding a path through any weakness in the vessel’s constitution. The repression seeks a way to expose and to manifest. It only needs the smallest crack to get through and then to expand it by continued pressure.
Although subtle, Aesop’s implicit lesson here is about hope correlated to trust. That is, from a wisdom point of view, predicting whether either we or others tend to change permanently.
This is a sensitive subject, occasionally highly offensive by contradicting some narratives—often implicitly hopeful narratives—exactly because we human beings hope in the salvation that anyone can change. But, what a human being could do, and what a human being tends to do, are not the same thing. [15] Thus, the adage, “Quod debet esse et quod tendit non idem est.” (“What should be and what tends to be are not the same thing.”)
Aesop is not adducing our noble thoughts and Jesusian prayers, but, rather, Aesop is adducing our wise thoughts: Being good and being wise are not the same thing.
Like it or not, Aesop’s 2,000 year old fables teach us to do the wise thing, which is not necessarily the kind thing, the courteous thing, or the charitable thing. Indeed, in The Wolf and the Sheep, [1] Aesop teaches us about the Wise Lamb who refused charity to the Injured Wolf. [2, 3] Not charitable, but wise. Sure, that Injured Wolf might have been one of the nice ones, but Aesop’s Wise Lamb was not going to test the question, by rational induction; that is, Natural Prejudice. [4]
Aesop reminds us of a fact that we tend to repress to protect ourselves: Hope is a form of desire, and we know that the emotion of desire cooks the books of wisdom. Wisdom requires clear thinking, but desire taints lucidity by introducing emotional bias. [5] But, worse, hope baits trust, or better, hope is trust’s bait, “Spes esca rapax.” (“Hope is a predator’s bait.”)
We see again and again and again that the fool tends to be fooled exactly for having trusted, and that trust is often the result of hope. [6] We desire something to be true [16], so we hope it is true. [7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, *1, 13] Hope is a bad advisor and a bad strategy, perhaps contradicting a common narrative, and the thought of conceding hope to wisdom is more than some people can accept. Thusly, “Tu scis quod incipias cognoscere lectionem, cum id scire times.” (“You know that you are starting to understand the lesson, when you are afraid to know it.”)
Now, having said that, we know that people can change, and so does Aesop. [14] But, that’s not Aesop’s lesson in this fable. Aesop is reminding us that wisdom is careful, not hoping, not desiring, and not trusting in or for results, but rather has a lucid understanding of natural tendencies of causation. [*15]
Will a human being change? Can a human being change? It depends. But, hope aside, it may simply depend upon in-context common sense experience; to wit:
- what is the natural tendency of that general type of human being;
- what is the natural tendency of that particular human being;
- how “deep” or essential is that characteristic to that human being;
- what is that human being’s personal character and strength of integrity; and
- what is the probability of a sufficiently strong reversionary trigger.
That is, what is a type of thing’s natural tendency? What is this particular thing’s natural tendencies? What is the strength of that tendency? What are the circumstances that will or may trigger or re-expose the tendency? What is the character of the thing to constrain a natural tendency notwithstanding presence of the trigger?
We might consider that, the greater the essentialness of the attribute, the greater the amount of the trauma required to change it or personal integrity (discipline) to contain it. Hope is not a per se element.
Wisdom would not characterize Aesop’s lesson here as skeptical, as such, but would simply call it a valid formula for wise decision-making, based upon experiential tendencies. Change tends to come hard, perhaps by some application of definition. But the Truth never cares what we think of him. [*16]
Venus, as Goddess of Love and Desire, knows something about instinctual passion and emotion, playing her game perfectly, if not with some irony, teaching the omnipotent Almighty Jupiter something crucial about wisdom and the nature of humanity. Venus knew her weapon, her ordnance, she knew her target, and, such as it is, she when and how to pull that trigger.
Yes, even the best and brightest can get tripped up by hope and desire. It’s our natural human tendency. Forewarned is forearmed.
[Ed. Note. And let us not forget about the Mouse. Where there is no free choice, there is no wisdom or foolishness, and the Mouse did not have a choice in playing in the game. It was easy for Venus to bet with the Mouse as money, not so easy for the Mouse. The risk of loss was for the Mouse. How this Mouse might bet with self as money, or how this Mouse might bet with another mouse as money, is a corollary lesson. “Facile est, bet cum pecunia de aliis.” (“It is easy to bet with other people’s money.”)]
[2] Wisdom v. Compassion, Or, the Elizabeth Smart Prediction – No. 60. The Woodsman and Serpent – The Essential Aesop™ – Back to Basics Abridgment Series [GRZ98_60] [LinkedIn #GRZ_98_60]
[3] Self-Power. Prayer, Hope and Luck. Or, Just Do It. – No. 77. Hercules and the Waggoner – The Essential Aesop™ – Back to Basics Abridgment Series [GRZ98_77] [LinkedIn #GRZ_98_77]
[4] Surviving Prejudice, Not All Bad [GRZ73] [LinkedIn #GRZ_73]
[5] The Two “Master Virtues” – The Executive Summary [GRZ209] [LinkedIn #GRZ_209]
[6] Leadership, and Dealing in Hope; Or, What is Hope? [GRZ128] [LinkedIn #GRZ_128]
[7] Hiring on Hope – The Business of Aesop™ No. 90 – The Cat-Maiden [GRZ13] [LinkedIn #GRZ_13] {Business of Aesop™}
[8] Nature Conforms Action – No. 50. The Scorpion and the Frog – The Essential Aesop™ – Back to Basics Abridgment Series [GRZ98_50] [LinkedIn #GRZ_98_50]
[9] Think Ahead. The Thing From The Seed. – No. 57. The Swallow and Other Birds – The Essential Aesop™ – Back to Basics Abridgment Series [GRZ98_57] [LinkedIn #GRZ_98_57]
[10] Trusting the People, Trusting the Deal – The Business of Aesop™ No. 13 – The Wolf and the Crane [GRZ53] [LinkedIn #GRZ_53]
[11] Bad Bargains, Power, and Vulnerability By Temptation – No. 13. The Wolf and the Crane – The Essential Aesop™ – Back to Basics Abridgment Series [GRZ98_13] [LinkedIn #GRZ_98_13]
[12] Same for You, Same for Me – The Business of Aesop™ No. 48 – The Two Pots [GRZ54] [LinkedIn #GRZ_54]
[13] On Leadership and Trust. [And, Should We Trust the U.S. Government?] [GRZ160] [LinkedIn #GRZ_160]
[14] The Morality Time Travel. Or, The Foolish and Incessant Misery of Timeless Insults – Stand for America® [GRZ88] [LinkedIn #GRZ_88]
[15] Epilogue: On the Wisdom of Aesop [GRZ24] [LinkedIn #GRZ_24]
[16] The Great Masquerade – Stand for America® [GRZ11X] [LinkedIn #GRZ_11]
[MUID57X] – A Clockwork Orange – The Cure – Beethoven and Nazi Scene
“Sapientia perfectam esse non habet, sed astutam esse habet.” (“Wisdom does not have to be perfect, but it does have to be astute.”); “Quod debet esse et quod tendit non idem est.” (“What should be and what tends to be are not the same thing.”); “Spes tatam nos.” (“Hope will mess us up.”); “Tu scis quod incipias cognoscere lectionem, cum id scire times.” (“You know that you are starting to understand the lesson, when you are afraid to know it.”); “Iesus docet quid debere sit, aesopus docet de posse fieri.” (“Jesus teaches about shoulds, Aesop teaches about coulds.”); “Prudentia et bonitas moralis non est idem.” (“Prudence and moral goodness are not the same thing.”); “Sapientia et caritas non sunt idem.” (“Wisdom and charity are not the same thing.”); “Facile est, bet cum pecunia de aliis.” (“It is easy to bet with other people’s money.”); “Spes mala consiliarius.” (“Hope is a bad advisor”); “Spes est malum ars imperatoria.” (“Hope is bad strategy.”); “Spes esca rapax.” (“Hope is a predator’s bait.”) ~ grz
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Gregg Zegarelli’s “The Cat-Maiden” (The Essential Aesop No. 90) is more than a fable interpretation—it is a philosophical lesson on human nature, change, trust, and the role of wisdom in leadership and personal judgment. Zegarelli uses Aesop not just to retell the story, but as a vehicle for his own integrated civic-philosophical framework. Below is a structured deep dive:
🔎 I. ZEGARELLI’S CORE TEACHING IN THIS PIECE
1. The Central Thesis:
Core nature persists. Hope is not strategy. Wisdom is grounded in probability and tendency—not optimism.
Zegarelli does not simply ask whether people can change, but refocuses the inquiry around what people tend to do, and under what conditions. His message is probabilistic, not idealistic.
2. Wisdom vs. Goodness vs. Hope:
A fundamental triad emerges:
- Wisdom is defined as astute, pragmatic, and discerning—measured by predictive power, not moral desire.
- Hope, while noble, is a distortion of risk analysis because it is driven by desire.
- Goodness (e.g., charity, prayer, moral love) is not the same as wisdom. A wise person might withhold charity out of rational distrust, as in the Wolf and the Sheep.
“Being good and being wise are not the same thing.”
“Hope is a predator’s bait.”
“Sapientia et caritas non sunt idem.” (“Wisdom and charity are not the same thing.”)
These aphorisms are central to Zegarelli’s epistemology.
📚 II. PART OF HIS PHILOSOPHICAL ETHOS?
This article reinforces key pillars of Zegarelli’s broader philosophical structure:
A. Natural Prejudice (Inductive Caution):
“What something tends to do is not the same as what it could do.”
Zegarelli’s idea of natural prejudice—derived not from bigotry, but from rational inductive pattern recognition—recurs across many fables. In this fable, it’s the idea that past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior, absent powerful contrary forces.
This links to other Zegarelli teachings:
- The Woodsman and the Serpent (GRZ98_60): wisdom over compassion.
- The Scorpion and the Frog (GRZ98_50): nature overrides agreement.
- The Two Pots (GRZ98_48): unequal risk profiles demand realistic assessments.
B. The Doctrine of Recidivism:
Zegarelli subtly teaches that without immense effort or trauma, deep nature resurfaces. This reversion is tied to emotional triggers, like the Mouse triggering the Cat.
C. Hope as Risk Illiteracy:
Hope, as Zegarelli frames it, is not inherently wrong—but it is dangerous when confused with strategic trust. He refers to this as “Spes esca rapax”—Hope is a predator’s bait.
D. Risk Ethics and the Mouse:
His side-note about the Mouse is a meta-ethical critique of risk displacement:
“It is easy to bet with other people’s money.”
This ties into his wider critique of leadership irresponsibility and exploitation—frequent in Zegarelli’s socio-political writings.
🧠 III. PEDAGOGICAL METHOD
Zegarelli’s method is dialectical-inductive, using fables as case studies and then drawing layered conclusions. Here’s how he teaches:
| Technique | Example in the Article |
|---|---|
| Socratic Irony / Question Framing | “Can people change?” becomes “What do they tend to do, and why?” |
| Historical Aphorisms | Latin phrases such as “Spes est malum ars imperatoria.” (Hope is bad strategy) |
| Case-Based Inversion | Uses Venus (emotion) to correct Jupiter (reason), showing limits of intellect alone |
| Moral Decomposition | Dissects moral feeling (hope/trust) into its risky cognitive components |
| Cross-Referencing | Folds in prior fables and essays (GRZ_128, GRZ_60, GRZ_13) to build a web of wisdom |
| Editorial Inserts | Breaks narrative with reflective commentary, such as the ethical plight of the Mouse |
This pedagogical strategy mirrors legal reasoning, precedent layering, and reliance on analogical structure. His teaching thus becomes a cumulative epistemology.
🧩 IV. INTEGRATION WITH ZEGARELLI’S BROADER CIVIC AND ETHICAL FRAMEWORK
The fable is not isolated. It forms part of a Zegarellian curriculum on realism, especially relevant to:
- Leadership selection (see GRZ128: Leadership and Dealing in Hope)
- Trust contracts and negotiations (GRZ13: Hiring on Hope; GRZ_53)
- Civic integrity and governance (GRZ88: Morality Time Travel)
He draws connections between personal decisions (e.g., marriage, hiring) and macro-level civilizational risks, as when governments bet on character reforms, rather than structural safeguards.
🧾 V. CONCLUSION
Zegarelli’s “The Cat-Maiden” is not about cats, or brides, or even morality—it is a surgical lesson in human tendency, strategic reasoning, and the limits of emotional optimism. The fable is a warning against the seductive distortion of judgment by hope and emotional trust, especially when judging others’ capacity for change.
His ethos: Wisdom is pattern-based, emotionally tempered, and unapologetically realist.
His pedagogy: Build truth by layered exposure, not by moral assertion.
His aim: Create a thinking citizen, less manipulable by feel-good narratives and more attuned to how things tend to go—not how we wish they would.
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© 2013 Arnold Zegarelli and Gregg Zegarelli, Esq.
LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/pulse/our-core-nature-persists-90-cat-maiden-essential-zegarelli-esq-/
GRZ98_90.20250215 GRZUID98_90