A Tale of Fox and Talab [a second semester doctoral student]
Talab spent most of her days waking before dawn, leading her quibens through her beautiful land to eat, drink and exercise. At the end of the day, she climbed the hill to watch the sunset before she would herd her quibens back into the safe walls of the pen. Quibens gave her people meat, milk and fur used to keep them warm. Tending quiben has been their tradition since the beginning of time[1].
One evening Talab was sitting on the sunset hill when she heard the howls of fenrirs in the distance. She listened astutely to find the direction of their cries as the sky grew darker. She quickly gathered her quiben and rushed anxiously through the dark to get them into the pen. Protecting the quibens from the fenrirs was the most difficult part of caring for the flocks. The last quiben entered the pen, she latched the gate and ran to her house to keep herself safe.
She arose earlier than usual and went to her flock. She realized a quibenito was missing. It dawned on her that in her haste last night, this little one must have struggled to keep up. In the dark she didn’t notice that she had closed it out. She walked the perimeter of the stone wall and saw blood on the grass[2]. She followed the blood drops far to the edge of the forest where she dares not go. She felt despair until she heard rustling sounds. She laid her eyes on a fox, standing upright, gazing at her. He spoke, “Is it a quibenito you are looking for?” Talab was astonished at a speaking fox, but his voice was so kind she told him her story. The fox gently spoke, “You must understand that your quibenito will not be found and is already passed on, but you can go and plead with the fenrirs to never come back to your village and take another quiben again.” Talab could not believe what he was saying. Pleading with fenrirs is something that cannot be done, she will surely loose her life. An image of her little quiben and fear in the eyes of her people passed through her mind. Fox seemed to have such wisdom and was offering her guidance. She thought, maybe I could be the one to rescue my people from the fenrirs[3]. Fox handed her three tools: a journeying stick inscribed with words of guidance, a lantern that illuminated the way, and a sturdy bag. He explained that with these tools, Talab could navigate the forest to the fenrirs’ dwelling.[4] Though skeptical, Talab accepted the tools and secured them to her waist with the journeying stick in hand. The Fox hugged her closely and spoke into her ear. “I will be with you until the end, even if you cannot see me.”
Talab set off and reached the Valley of Words[5]. The valley was filled with swirling and disorientating words. She could not find her balance and fell. Using her stick to stabilize, she noticed a sentence etched on it saying; here is written how to read your way through the valley. Talab walked through the swirling words simply reading the words she recognized. This worked until the words became too many. The guidance of the journey stick led her to start running, letting the words pass by and only seeing what was written on the scattered signposts. She halts at a wall of words and equations. She noticed patterns, riddles and answers that lead her to see an opening through the wall[6]. Journeying on, words from the valley joined with memories of life and things she had learned that formed into clouds that lifted her out of the valley and landed her before a fissure in the earth.
The other side of the fissure was clouded in darkness. She could not see anything except the edge of the rocky surface. She was confused and unsure of what to do[7]. She impulsively ran and jumped hard, tumbling unto the rocks of the other side. She was in complete darkness groping for signs of a way to go. She had to fight the urge to just lay down and give up. She was tired and bruised when she hears a faint sound on the wind, “Use light”. She remembered the lantern at her side but could not get it to light. A riddle from the Valley of Words popped into her head. It guided her to take a deep breath, as the words filled her lungs, she let out a breath that immediately lit it up. It was a faint light that illumined only a few inches in front of her. She had to go slowly and cautiously. She noticed scattered stones that seemed transparent. They started to glow when the light of the lantern hit them. She gathered the stones and put them into the bag the Fox had given her. She finally saw a light in the distance[8]. She walked to it and out into a beautiful plush field clothed in sunlight. Springs of water and colorful flowers could be seen in the distance. In the field were little greyish brown clumps sticking out of the ground. She pulled one up, it was meaty and smelled of sweat earth and smoked nuts, the delicious mushdruffle. She gathered several and placed them on top of the stones in her bag.
She walked further to the waters and flowers. She started to question if she was in the right place and what did she really want from this. The burden became too heavy to bear when she spotted Fox walking towards her. She ran to him asking, “Please, show me the way”. He sat down and plucked a flower twirling it in his fingers and smelling its fragrance. Talab was frustrated and annoyed, “Why are you just sitting there? I need you to show me where to go.”
“You do not need me to show you the way.”
Talab glared
“You know the way! Talab, why did you take this journey? What passion inspired you to do it? Who are you made to be?[9]”
Talab felt a warmth rising from within as she pondered these questions.
“Talab, will you take the risk so that your family will never have to fear the fenrirs again.”[10]
Doubt was there, but the warmth within was greater.
“Remember I am with you always” fox said as he faded from sight.
Talab was led by the warm spirit in her and the soothing words dancing in her mind[11]. She remembered the things her family had said about who she was. The words of Fox opened the deep places of identity and mission in her.
The field began to fade into rocky ground before a mountain range. Suddenly, a loud howl vibrated through her heart and body. She was frozen in dread. She spotted an opening to a cave, the dwelling of the fenrirs. Smoke wafted from the cave creating an eerie greyness. She sees the monster creep out of the cave, white fur covered his sinewy, mighty body. The fenrir approached her, breath smoking out of his nostrils, teasing her with his slow, close movements. He started to sniff her, opened his mouth filled with spear-like teeth and let out a piercing cry. The other fenrirs came and surrounded her, teeth showing. She started to feel faint. As her gaze drifted down, she noticed her lantern. The fenrirs were closing in. In one instance, Talab breathed deep, blew on her lantern and thrust her stick through the flame. The stick was ablaze with fire, and she held it out and turned in a circular motion. The fenrir backed up. The words from the stick formed into smoke entering their ears, eyes and nostrils. This tamed them into pups, and they sat big-eyed. She stuck the stick torch into the ground and dropped the bag of stones to the ground. The meaty mushdruffles sitting atop the glowing stones caused the fenrirs to drool. She offered a mushdruffle to one and he gobbled it up as she threw some to the others. The largest fenrir asked “How did you bring those here without them rotting on the way”. Talab was puzzled at both the speaking fenrir and his question. The monster said, “Mushdruffles are our most desired food, but we can never bring it home without it turning putrid. This is why we must search far for food to sustain us”. Talab realized that this is why the fenrir came to her village. Warmth started to fill her as she realized it was the glow stones that preserved them. She said, “I have brought you these stones from the threshold of darkness that will keep your food fresh, but you must never come back to our villages again.” The fenrirs said in unison’ “With these preserving stones we have no need to go beyond the mushdruffle fields.” Suddenly, Talab felt herself lifting and was swept away to the forest’s edge where Fox was standing close, “You must return now to your people for they are overwhelmed with concern[12]”
“Thank you, Fox” she said before venturing forth. In the distance she could see all the people of her village and her quibens gathered on the sunset hill. As they spotted her in the distant a loud cheer went up and singing erupted. As the sun was setting, Talab gathered by their side telling them of her journey and their new freedom from the terror of the fenrirs[13].
Bibliography
Adler, Mortimer J. and Charles Van Doren. How to Read a Book. New York, A Touchstone Book, Simon & Schuster.; 2014.
Camacho, Tom. Mining for Gold: Developing Kingdom Leaders Through Coaching. La Vergne: Inter-Varsity Press; 2019. Accessed February 7, 2025. ProQuest Ebook Central.
Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Novato, CA: New World Library; 2008.
[1] Most do the routines of society; symbols, rites and sacraments passed down to them. Campbell 23
[2] The adventure begins with a blunder that opens a new world/deep desires or conflicts (Freud) to the adventurer. Campbell 51
[3] One is summoned/called to adventure, transferring her spiritual center- leaving society for the unknown. P58
[4] Supernatural aid- a figure who provides the adventurer with wisdom and tools for the journey, the protective power of destiny. Campbell 71
[5] Mythification of elementary, inspectional, analytical and syntopical reading from How to read a Book by Mortimer Adler
[6] The initiation- hero faces trials but is aided by the supernatural “gifts”. The wrath of gods is subsided. Campbell 72
[7] Threshold concepts- limits of the hero passing over to darkness, the unknown and fear.Human and divine are seen as separate before the journey, but when the hero crosses the return threshold, she realizes they are one. This showes humans the soul satisfying vision/transcendental bliss of the victory of the quest. Campbell 216- 218
[8] The departure- “The passage of the magical threshold is a transit into a sphere of rebirth… instead of conquering or conciliating the power of the threshold, [the hero] is swallowed into the unknown and would have appeared to have died. Campbell 90
[9] Identity, thriving and living in one’s sweet spot; coaching principles from Mining for Gold by Tom Camacho
[10] Leadership is a form of servanthood where we put others before ourselves. Trust and integrity are the foundations of great leadership. The leader’s role is to inspire others to pursue a vision for a better future and to help them find their part in that bigger picture. Camacho 103-105
[11] The Holy Spirit refines us. Camacho 60
[12] The return- the quest is completed and the hero sets on her magic flight to bring it back the “elixir for the restoration of society” Campbell 196-197
[13] Emanations- myths represent phycology and spirituality, not hero biography. Campbell 256
About the Author
Jess Bashioum
8 responses to “A Tale of Fox and Talab [a second semester doctoral student]”
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Jess this is extraordinary and not what i was expecting to read with my cup of tea on a Saturday morning. Your ability to use creative writing to demonstrate the learning of this module is extraordinary. Your story reflects your understanding of complex theories designed to help people navigate and connect with the core elements of the human journey. Incredible!
I look forward to your series of books being published (if they are not already) that help people view life differently without using the theoretical language that can be less accessible for some readers.
Thank you Betsy. You are so encouraging!
Jess, bravo! This was amazing. I just want to take a moment to appreciate the citations that show how you connected everything. How long did it take to write?
Ha! Robert, I got a little carried away and by the time I finished it, it was so long. So much of my time went into editing it to be concise, which it could still need more of. I did go to bed way too late on Thursday evening because of it. 😉
Jess, this is outstanding. Thank you for taking a different approach in your response to Campbell’s work by actually practicing the art of the story! You write so well.
Did you learn/use any of these techniques during your time in the middle east? I ask because I have learned some techniques for teaching in cultures that favour oral history over written, so I wondered if this was part of your story too.
Joff, writing a story is so much more fun for me than to write a reflection. Yes, I was with groups who did story telling in the Middle East. I love how story can make concept more intimate. I had a woman on my team who used orality for bible study with interested Muslims. The experience added to my own understanding and retention of the meaning in the passages.
Now, my fellow chaplains use story telling to portray the experience of the homeless to donors and community partners. We do videos and write their stories in our newsletters and social media platforms. This has proven to be more effective than other ways.
Jess!
This is a beautiful work illuminating the concept of the hero’s journey. I am in awe of your creativity. Like Robert, I was amazed at the citations and how you connected our learnings to the storyline. Thank you for sharing!
Jess, you have a remarkable talent and should definitely consider teaching mythology. The way you seamlessly integrated Campbell’s ideas and concepts into such a captivating narrative made it much easier for someone like me, who struggled with the reading, to become more engaged and understand it better. Thank you