So there was once this rabbit who was a rather smug and cocky little
Leporid… you know the type… wore his hat at a rakish angle…
strutted his stuff all over the meadow … chomped on only the finest
clovers and had all the females drooling over his ears and whiskers.
Quite a natty dresser too. Only bought clothes made of pure woven
cotton-tail.
And then there was this turtle. Didn’t much care how he looked. He
would–by today’s standards–probably be considered quite a
physically-challenged Testudine. Didn’t much care if the checked
pattern on his upper-shell matched the lined patterns on his
under-shell. He was however a bit of an intellectual who
unconsciously subscribed to that observation that stated that modesty
was the strongest form of ego. He didn’t wear a tie… he didn’t put
socks on his feet. But he was valued at work because he persevered
and always got the job done no matter how long it took him to do it.
Then there was a watchmaker. His name was Antoine LeCoultre. He
founded his factory in Le Sentier, Switzerland in 1833 which was long
after the rabbit and the turtle had passed into the great beyond.
LeCoultre created fine timepieces as well as the world’s most precise
measuring instrument: the millionometer.
Well… you all know most of the story. Rabbit challenges turtle to
race. Turtle accepts. Rabbit takes nap on side of road. Turtle
crosses finish line first. And Aesop becomes famous. As a quick
aside–though I admit to barely having known even one rabbit in my
life–I tend to disbelieve the rabbit decided to step aside and take
a nap in the middle of a race. I suspect Aesop tinted his tale a tad
just to make a point… which lowers his stature in my mind… for I
am fanatical about truthful reporting. Is it possible that Aesop’s
technique was a forerunner of today’s newsmen? But that’s another
tale by another Greek fabulist for another time.
So let us return to LeCoultre. Among his many accomplishments was a
movement–signed LeCoultre & Cie, placed inside a gold and diamond
tortoise watch suspended by oval link chains from a rose-cut diamond
hare with cabochon ruby eyes. It was perhaps a small homage on his
part which he paid to rabbit and turtle alike. Value in today’s
market: A tad over $11,000.
For those of you who are new to this thing called Tidbits…may I
direct you to my home page at http://www.tyler-adam.com where you
will scroll down the left side menu till you get to the area that
says Current Tidbits… click it… and you will see represented on
our pages a tortoise watch and a running hare.
And there ya have it.
That’s it for this week folks.
Catch you all next week.
Benjamin Mark