THE DOG KING


In Scandinavian legend, after the death of the Danish king, the Swedish king, Hakun, sent the Danes a small dog and ordered them to appoint it as their new king. The Danes, at this time oppressed by the Swedes, did so without question. The small dog king ruled the former king's great hall, running up and down the tables until one day, when excited by the large hounds below, he jumped into a fray, and they tore him to bits.

I think this is a great cautionary tale--especially for the U.S. We might think ourselves the top dog, but in reality, we may be running up and down on the top of tables, never really taking into account, or acknowledging, the large hounds watching us intently from beneath the table.