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Fables

Fables. Stories that point out lessons are called fables. Nearly everyone knows the fable about the three little pigs. They leave home and go out into the world to make their fortunes. Of course, they have to build places in which to live. The first little pig makes his house of straw. The second little pig also takes things easily, building his house of sticks. The third little pig works hard and long to make a house of bricks--a good, sturdy house. Along comes a wolf who blows down the houses of straw and sticks and eats the two lazy little pigs. All his huffing and puffing, however, cannot blow down the house of bricks.   In this fable the three little pigs show human characteristics. Two little pigs are shiftless and meet an unhappy end through their own fault. The hard-working little pig earns the reward of a good life.   Practice what you preach is based on another fable. In "The Wolf and the Ass" a wolf urges all the animals to share their food with one another. An ass then relates to them that the wolf is hiding a fat sheep in its den.   In very early times people told stories in which animals talk. By their actions the animals show how foolish or wise people can be. Folklore scholars think that fables probably originated among the Semitic peoples of the Middle East. The tales spread to India and then west to Greece.   Many fables go back to an ancient Sanskrit collection from India called 'Pancatantra' (Five Chapters). These stories were told and retold through many generations. Eventually they reached Greece.   The Greeks added detail and action and made Aesop master of all the fables. The Romans translated Aesop's fables into Latin. They were translated into French in the 13th century. The first of many versions of the folktale of "Reynard the Fox" appeared in about the 12th century.

Famous Fables by Aesop The greatest teller of fables was Aesop (see Aesop). He was believed to be a slave in ancient Greece. His stories are simple moral lessons illustrated usually by the actions and speech of animals. Some of his best-known fables are "The Lion and the Mouse," "The Fox and the Stork," "The Hare and the Tortoise," "The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing," "The Fox and the Grapes," "The Frogs Desiring a King," and "The Shepherd Boy and the Wolf."