When my daughter was pretty young we were walking on the sidewalk beside a road. There was an unfortunate squirrel that hand not made the crossing alive, and died in a rather gory fashion. Rather than sheltering her from the cruelty of death I told her that this squirrel didn&#x27;t listen to its parents and played in the road. The imagery was powerful enough that she &#x27;self-policed&#x27; rather well and kept herself and friends away from the road unless an adult was helping them cross.<p>It&#x27;s this same imagery we see in old tales like that. Vivid and terrifying creatures and events that apply enough fear to curb our curiosity in places that it might get the better of us.