Adventures from the Book of Virtues

- Season 2

(1998)

Zach is excited that a college football player who is his role model will attend his school pep rally, so volunteers to help out in order to meet him. But he doesn't think cleaning up for the assembly is worth it, and is prepared to go back on his word. Meanwhile, Sock is reluctant to help Ari find his misplaced glasses as promised because of his fear of tunnels. Plato explains that character is shown by letting actions compare to words as shown in "The Bear and the Travellers", where a badger learned of his companion's nature in a bad time, and in "The Knights of the...

Zach and Annie go mountain-biking in the woods, but Zach's bike overturns and he sprains his ankle. Annie decides to stick with him since he can't walk or ride on it, and gets him not to think about their being stranded by retelling the Greek fable "Proetus" Plato told them, where a Greek king had to use all his willpower and strength to allow himself and his soldiers to return home. When Annie worries that they will have no chance of making their way out, Zach retells from Plato's collection the true story of Jinkswoitmaya, about a Native American who worked to save ...

Annie gets more orders for her craft weathervanes with Plato, Aurora, Ari, and Sock on them than she can deliver right away, so rushes through some to sell them - then gets complaints about how they're dysfunctional. Plato encourages her to consider what the results of a rushed job show by telling "For Want of a Horseshoe Nail", where one incomplete task led to a remarkably high amount of trouble, and Aurora "Charlemagne and the Robber Knight", where an English king's and a lowly thief's thoughtfulness in how to deal with people proved life-saving.

It's Zach's birthday and he wants to plan a large party to celebrate, but is bitter when his parents inform him they can only host a moderate one. Seeing this and how Ari is glum that his small size is why Sock won't let him do much to help set up an earlier celebration for Zach, Plato points out that what is actually had in life should not be easily scorned, as a man found out during his many experiences and longings in "The Discontented Stonecutter", and Aurora reminds that some things in life, like people, are worth more than ones that show wealth by reading "...

Annie's enthusiasm about her family's upcoming spring vacation doesn't last when she learns her mother wants her to be a part-time sitter for her little cousins. Plato tries to explain how helping out can bring rewards, as shown in "The Line of Golden Light", or should at least bring joy, as it did to a knight in "St. George and the Dragon". Even the poem "Beautiful" reminds that the best kinds of people are those who give themselves to others.

Zach feels triumphant when he gets a high enough grade on his history test to give him a good grade on his report card and make the honor roll, until he catches a mistake his teacher didn't. He is tempted to keep it secret so he'll be rewarded for his achievement, but Plato points out that the greatest honor, and reward, come from openness as shown in "The Honest Woodsman", and how even before he became famous as president Abraham "Honest Abe" Lincoln built a great reputation for himself by always attending to matters so small they would have been easy to ignore. Even...

Annie volunteers to tutor a younger student in math, but grows openly frustrated with Josh when it doesn't turn out as easy as she hoped, then regrets her offer to help to begin with. Meanwhile, Ari is ready to quit trying to teach Sock to roller-skate. Plato tries to convince them that patience can make a difference, just like it did with another teacher, Anne Sullivan, who was forced to test every bit of hers to help her pupil, Helen Kellar. He also shows how using it enough to deal kindly with others brings satisfaction in "How the Brazilian Beetles Got Their Coats...

Annie and Zach are saddened to see some families in town don't have any heat or warm clothes for the cold winter, and wish someone could help. Plato explains how anyone can make a difference and even tells them the story of how a monk's giving to those in need was enough reward for him throughout his life in "The Emerald Lizard". The two are eager to donate many clothes to the families who need them, and Annie is even willing to offer her favorite coat - but soon wishes she never had done that. Hoping to bring out the satisfaction for her that everyone should feel ...

Zach doesn't think much of his football captain, and when Plato hears of Melanie's glory-lust which allows her to do as she pleases at the cost of the benefit of the team, he tells "The Tower to to the Moon" to demonstrate how a leader's self-importance was rewarded. Zach has a different reason to worry later when he himself is elected to do the job himself, and Plato tries to put his mind at ease by reading "The Gourdian Knot", to show how Alexander the Great proved the ability to think clearly was needed to lead, as well as another story about his putting others ...

Annie is disappointed that her family's vacation is postponed since her father has jury duty, and wonders why he simply doesn't skip it. Plato explains citizenship can reward good character, as shown in "The Stone in the Road" where those with and without it are repaid accordingly, and even if it doesn't, can make differences for the better, as the Roman Cincinnatus demonstrated by leading when and how he believed he must during war.

Zach's first assignment for photographer as the school paper is, to his disappointment, taking pictures of things for the advertisements. He wants to quit, but Ari points out that every task has its ups and downs so the best solution is to work hard and cheerfully, as shown in "The Discontented Pig", and Michelangelo's refusal to shun any duty, from making snow-art when he knew it would melt to painting when his true talent was sculpting, made him famous for his work in the Sistine Chapel.

Annie does her best in baseball and ends up leading her team tot he champion game, but then learns she's been spending too little time on schoolwork. Plato points out that being involved too much in something doesn't mean it brings rewards, as a creature learns in the African folktale "The Spider's Two Feasts" where determination to take much forced him to make a decision he didn't handle well. Sock gets into a situation like that of the title character in Aesop's "The Boy and the Nuts" when he tries to overdo the amount of Zach's report-card celebration cookies he ...

Zach has graduated from elementary school and is about to start at middle school with more challenging work and new students, some of whom directly mislead him on Orientation Day, and is worried if he will succeed there. While Annie, remembering all the two have learned together, and the others encourage him, Plato reads "The Story of the Two Friends" to define wisdom by how a person lives out the positive characteristics within.