I want to use the fable of the “horse may learn to sing” from The Mote in God’s Eye, but I can’t find my copy. Would anyone have the patience to scan or type it in for me, or point to an online source?
Is this all that you need?
That’s exactly it! Thanks. My google skills are obviously not very good.
Was that really the origin of the story? I had assumed that it was floating around long before Niven and Pournelle used it.
That’s the only place I’ve seen it. Haven’t looked for I anywhere else, though.
I think that it’s a very old folk tale. I first heard it as a young kid in the early 70s as a Jewish folk tale with a talking horse and a king.
This guy dates it to at least 1930 but thinks it’s much older.
Hodja Nasreddin
In the Mote In Gods Eye the story is credited to Herodotus.
In my link above yours, the author makes the claim that he is familiar with Herodotus and it appears nowhere in his writings.
Not that you would have found it anyway.
Somehow I had the impression that it was a Russian folk story.
Sorry, didn’t remember that. Niven or Pournelle apparently thought so.
I’ve been under the impression that it’s an old Jewish story.
However, when I think about it, I don’t know whether that’s because I originally came across it in that context, or just because it has that sort of flavor.
In the versions I have read the horse is supposed to talk not sing.
I’ve heard it attributed to the Mullah Nasrudin and it was about teaching the horse to fly.