THE COURAGE OF KAZAN

Too fearful of wolves to tend the sheep, Kazan is sent packing: ""Where, then, did one go to find courage?"" Where but to kill forty flies ""at one stroke,"" and, in the further footsteps of ""The Brave Little Tailor,"" inscribe his deed on a sword, earning the reputation that he'll be hard-pressed to live up to. The McCreas put you in his tight place -- see the soldiers' bold mustachios and flashing eyes bearing -- down and Barbara Walker puts the right wrong words for Kazan's reticence in the sultan's mouth: ""No brave man needs to say he has courage. He shows his courage on the field of battle."" What Kazan shows -- hanging onto a dragon for dear life, fortuitously picking an old battle horse who does his lighting for him -- is that ""a man is judged by his work."" And there's the hope that ""by looking brave, I may one day in truth find courage."" Snappy, with a Turkish edge to universal wisdom.