In the fantasy world of learn-to-read books of my long-ago primary school days I remember the story of Chicken Licken who had the misfortune to be hit on the head by a falling acorn. He was convinced the sky was falling and set off to tell the King. Along the way he met several of his feathered friends who joined him and soon there was a hikoi off tell the King the sky was falling. On the way they met Foxy Loxy who tried to divert them to their doom in his den.
A few years later in my high school literature classes we were given a novel by the 16th century Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes entitled ‘Don Quixote’, which had been translated to English. Our task was to critique the work both for its literary merit and its message. I don’t recall how well it was written but the message remains with me to this day. The main character, Alonso Quijano, as Don Quixote the knight, had lost his sense of reality decided to revive the lost world of ancient chivalry and set about attacking windmills as the enemy. After many wild adventures Don Quixote renounced chivalry and foolish fiction and, on his death bed, expressed regret for wasting time in a fantasy world.
It seems however that Chicken Licken, after about 70 years, has finally arrived at our Parliament. I wonder what His Majesty will do to stop the sky from falling.