Fable

From Encyclopedia Jr, free information reference for Kids

For other uses of the term or its plural, see Fable (disambiguation).

Along with folk tales, legends and proverbs, fables constitute the earliest forms of storytelling. Fables that originated in India were carried into Persia and from there spread into Greece and the rest of the world. Among the well known fables that are attributed to the legendary Aesop, a Greek slave, who is supposed to have lived around 550 B.C., several have parallels in animal fables of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt: many others are familiar such as “The Crow and the Pitcher,” “The Hare and the Tortoise,” or “The Lion and the Mouse.” Fables can be found in the literature of almost every country.

Fables are short stories featuring animals, plants and forces of nature which are given human qualities. This is referred to as anthropomorphism. Whether handed down from generation to generation as oral literature or constructed by a literary tale-teller, the purpose of a fable is to teach a particular lesson, value or to give sage advice. They also provide us with the opportunity to laugh at our foolishness and cry and comfort each other when faced with tragedy. They differ from parables and allegories which usually feature humans. They also differ from myths and legends which explain a particular natural phenomena such as seasons or why the sun rises in the east.

Fables are characterized by a lesson, the type of characters, its length which is generally short and the type of writing, which is mainly action and dialogue as opposed to description. But most importantly, the fable is universal. For that reason, it’s important to teach fables. Not only do fables allow us to connect with other cultures but ultimately they reinforce what makes us human.

Finally, the fable also serves as a wonderful springboard to other forms of writing. The lesson becomes the theme in a short story or novel; how the lesson is taught becomes the plot in longer stories. Characters can be developed to create voice, dialogue and point of view.

There are many modern fables. Felix Salten's Bambi is a Bildungsroman— a story of a protagonist's coming-of-age— cast in the figure of a fable. The Lion King is a fable.

[edit] History

Fables have been told for a long time. One of the earliest notable fabulists was Aesop, a slave who lived in ancient Greece during the 6th century BC. Although no solid evidence exists proving Aesop was a real person, or where he was born, some consider him as the father of the genre. Hundreds of fables have been attributed to him, though many have been told by others, at an earlier or later time.

Hundreds of fables were also composed in ancient India during the first millenium BC, often as stories within frame stories. These included the Hitopadesha, Vikram and The Vampire, Vishnu Sarma's Fables of Bidpai, and Syntipas' Seven Wise Masters, which were collections of fables that were later influential throughout the Old World. Earlier Indian epics such as Vyasa's Mahabharata and Valmiki's Ramayana also contained fables within the main story, often as side stories or back-story.

Fables had a further long tradition through the Middle Ages, and became part of European literature. During the 17th century, the French fabulist Jean de La Fontaine (1621-1695) saw the soul of the fable in the moral — a rule of behavior. Starting with the Aesopian pattern, La Fontaine set out to satirize the court, the church, the rising bourgeoisie, indeed the entire human scene of his time. La Fontaine's model was subsequently emulated by Poland's Ignacy Krasicki (1735-1801) and Russia's Ivan Krylov (1769-1844).

In modern times, the fable has been trivialized in children's books. Yet it has also been fully adapted to modern literature. For instance, James Thurber used the ancient style in his book, Fables for Our Time; and in a book, The Beast in me, unmasked by fables. George Orwell's Animal Farm satirizes Stalinist Communism in particular, and totalitarianism in general, by using the animal story.

Epicharmus of Kos and Phormis are reported as having been among the first to invent comic fables.^[1]

[edit] Notable fabulists

• Aesop
• Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa
• Vaisampayana
• Valmiki
• Bidpai
• Vishnu Sarma
• Phaedrus
• Syntipas
• Hyginus, author of Fabulae.
• Berechiah ha-Nakdan (Berechiah the Punctuator, 1200s).
• Marie de France
• Biernat of Lublin (Polish, 1465? – after 1529).
• Jean de La Fontaine (1621-1695)
• Ignacy Krasicki (Polish, 1735 – 1801).
• Ivan Krylov (1769-1844)
• Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
• James Thurber
• George Orwell
• Stoian Mihailovski (Bulgarian)

[edit] Some modern fabulists

• George Ade, "Fables in Slang" and other titles
• Don Marquis, author of the fables of archy and mehitabel
• James Thurber (1894-1961), Fables For Our Time.
• Damon Runyon
• Sholem Aleichem
• Bill Willingham author of Fables graphic novels
• Ambrose Bierce

[edit] Notable fables

• Panchatantra (Fables of Bidpai)
• Baital Pachisi (Vikram and The Vampire)
• Hitopadesha
• Seven Wise Masters
• Stone Soup
• The Little Engine that Could
• Jonathan Livingston Seagull
• Watership Down
• The Lion King
• The Emperor's New Clothes
• Fables and Parables by Ignacy Krasicki
• The Fox and the Cock by James Thurber
• Animal Farm by George Orwell
• The Boy Who Cried Wolf

[edit] See also

• Allegory
• Anthropomorphism
• Apologue
• Apologia
• Fairy tale
• Fantastique
• Ghost story
• Parable
• Urban Legend
• Fable (video game)

[edit] External links

• Fables & Moral Stories Learn reading comprehension using fables and moral stories.
• The Dragon-Tyrant
• Fables - Collection and guide to fables for children
• Imaginexus A collection of interconnected stories that anyone can edit
• "The Yosemite Adventure of Spotty Bat", 2005, A fable for all ages about a Spotted bat.