For a fisherman to prosper, staring at and appreciating the beauty of a calm surface of a river, lake or ocean is not the way forward. To prosper, the fisherman must pierce the calm surface, no matter how beautiful or breathtaking. What the fisherman needs to succeed is below the surface. From fish to gold nuggets, to find them the eye must see below the surface, the hand must reach deep into the water and the mind must understand the foreign, aquatic world. History shows the infinite rewards for those who saw beneath the surface, reached wisely and deep into the water wisely as they understood the foreign, aquatic world. They knew when, where, how to reach and why they were reaching.

Reading the fables of Aesop is identical. His stories are as entertaining as they are enlightening. On the surface of his stories is entertainment. Below the surface at one depth are the fables and at another depth, there is the enlightenment on tactics. Aesop was a genius with words and his stories, like deep water, holds more than one instruction. Those who have read and benefited from seeking guidance from the morals constructed into his stories, unknowingly also benefited from his tactical genius.

Did Aesop knowingly and intentionally hide his tactical genius inside the fables? There is no way of knowing for sure, as so little is known about his life. Practically, it does not matter. The fables provide as good an education on tactics as they do with morals. If Aesop did intentionally combine tactics with morals in the same story, his aim was surely to teach how to flourish morally while succeeding materially. How a war is won, or a battle decided always determines the length and quality of the peace that follows. A two for one deal. One cannot learn one without being exposed to the other.

Being aware of Aesop's lessons on tactics, time and effort is saved and value increased drastically. The fables also become so much more interesting, especially if each fable is read from the point of view of all the major characters involved. Through the eyes of both winners and losers.

Now that you have broken the surface, your understanding is increased, your Aesop lessons more complete. There are hundreds more Aesop's Fables to learn from now the door is opened for better understanding. The tools of extracting his hidden messages are there forever more. Sun Tzu is more than just a tool for better decoding the wisdom in Aesop's fables. His revered knowledge of strategy and tactics is now available to any who wish to improve themselves.

The genius of Aesop as a words-smith, story-teller, fabulist, strategist and tactician and Sun Tzu will live on for another two thousand years. Those who listen will benefit, those who do not, remain the same.