The Wolf, the Goat, and the Kid
There are three characters, in this fable. As usual, the wolf is the bad one. But the best one is the youngest, the kid. He is extra careful and goes beyond his mother's recommendation.
Le Loup, la Chèvre et le Chevreau
La bique, allant remplir sa traînante mamelle,
Et paître l’herbe nouvelle,
Ferma sa porte au loquet,
Non sans dire à son biquet :
Gardez-vous, sur votre vie,
D’ouvrir que l’on ne vous die,
Pour enseigne et mot du guet :
Foin du loup et de sa race !
Comme elle disait ces mots,
Le loup, de fortune, passe ;
Il les recueille à propos,
Et les garde en sa mémoire.
La bique, comme on peut croire,
N’avait pas vu le glouton.
Dès qu’il la voit partie,
il contrefait son ton,
Et d’une voix papelarde,
Il demande qu’on ouvre, en disant : Foin du loup !
Et croyant entrer tout d’un coup.
Le biquet soupçonneux par la fente regarde :
Montrez-moi patte blanche, ou je n’ouvrirai point,
S’écria-t-il d’abord. Patte blanche est un point
Chez les loups, comme on sait,
rarement en usage.
Celui-ci, fort surpris d’entendre ce langage,
Comme il était venu s’en retourna chez soi.
Où serait le biquet s’il eût ajouté foi
Au mot du guet que, de fortune,
Notre loup avait entendu ?
Deux sûretés valent mieux qu’une ;
Et le trop en cela ne fut jamais perdu.
The Wolf, the Goat, and the Kid
The goat, going to fill her trailing udder,
And graze the new grass,
Locked his door with the latch,
Not without saying to his goat:
Keep yourself, on your life,
To open that you are not told,
For Ensign and Watchword:
Down with the wolf and his race!
As she said these words,
The wolf, by chance, passes by;
He collects the words about,
And keep them in his memory.
The goat, as one can believe,
Hadn't seen the glutton.
As soon as he sees her gone,
he counterfeits his tone,
And in a quiet voice[2],
He asks us to open, saying: Fool's wolf!
And believing to enter all of a sudden.
The suspicious kid through the slit looks:
Show me your paw, or I won't open,
He exclaimed first. White paw is a point
In wolves, as you must know,
rarely in use.
This one, very surprised to hear this language,
As he had come, returned home.
Where would the kid be if he had believed
At the word of the watch that, by chance,
Our wolf had heard?
Two sureties are better than one;
And the excess in that was never lost.
First Fable: The Circada and the Ant
Previous Fable: The Fox and the Grapes
Next Fable: The Wolf, the Mother, and the Child
It is better to be extra careful than not enough
When an app needs a password to be accessed, you first need to choose one that is not obvious. For example, not "Password1234" or your last name.
However, if there is a possibility to add a second secure way to access the app, such as a code received on your cell phone, you should always use it, even if it takes more time. Security comes before speed.
The same is true in investment: if you buy a large number of shares of a company, in the hope that the share price will increase, it is a good idea to also buy an option that will cover your losses if the share price goes down.
Similarly, it was not a bad idea, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to impose lockdowns AND require masks, as the danger was not really known. Later, after vaccines were available, some restrictions could have been removed earlier than they were.
But in any case, it is always better to be extra careful when you don't know for sure what will happen in the future.