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| | The word '''fable''' comes from the Latin ''fabula,'' where it simply means "story." | | The word '''fable''' comes from the Latin ''fabula,'' where it simply means "story." |
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| − | In the English-speaking world, the word is closely associated with ''Æsop's Fables,'' a collection of stories attributed to the ancient Greek "Æsop the Slave," who lived in the sixth century BC. In 1483, [[William Caxton]], one of the first printers in England, published an English translation. Æsop's fables are short stories, obviously fictitious, usually involving talking animals as characters, which make some point about morality or human nature. | + | In the English-speaking world, the word is closely associated with ''Æsop's Fables,'' a collection of stories attributed to the ancient Greek "Æsop the Slave," who lived in the sixth century BC. In 1483, [[William Caxton]], one of the first printers in England, published an English translation. Æsop's fables are short stories, obviously fictitious, usually involving talking animals as characters, which make some point about morality or human nature. The point is sometimes stated explicitly in a final sentence, sometimes labelled as the "moral:" "Some men underrate their best blessings," or "There is no believing a liar, even when he speaks the truth." |
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| | ==An example of one of Æsop's fables== | | ==An example of one of Æsop's fables== |
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| | Plane-Tree, interrupting him, said, "You ungrateful fellows! Do | | Plane-Tree, interrupting him, said, "You ungrateful fellows! Do |
| | you, while receiving benefits from me and resting under my shade, | | you, while receiving benefits from me and resting under my shade, |
| − | dare to describe me as useless, and unprofitable?'<ref>[http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext91/aesop11h.htm Aesop's Fables], translated by George Fyler Townsend Project Gutenberg eText</ref> | + | dare to describe me as useless, and unprofitable?' |
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| | + | Some men underrate their best blessings. |
| | + | <ref>[https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext91/aesop11h.htm Aesop's Fables], translated by George Fyler Townsend Project Gutenberg eText</ref> |
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| | + | ==Ralph Waldo Emerson's ''Fable'' == |
| | + | [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]]'s ''Fable'' is as follows:<ref>https://poets.org/poem/fable</ref> |
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| | + | The mountain and the squirrel |
| | + | <br>Had a quarrel; |
| | + | <br>And the former called the latter ‘Little Prig.’ |
| | + | <br>Bun replied, |
| | + | <br>‘You are doubtless very big; |
| | + | <br>But all sorts of things and weather |
| | + | <br>Must be taken in together, |
| | + | <br>To make up a year |
| | + | <br>And a sphere. |
| | + | <br>And I think it no disgrace |
| | + | <br>To occupy my place. |
| | + | <br>If I'm not so large as you, |
| | + | <br>You are not so small as I, |
| | + | <br>And not half so spry. |
| | + | <br>I'll not deny you make |
| | + | <br>A very pretty squirrel track; |
| | + | <br>Talents differ; all is well and wisely put; |
| | + | <br>If I cannot carry forests on my back, |
| | + | <br>Neither can you crack a nut.’ |
| | + | ==See also== |
| | + | *[[Conservative parables]] |
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| | ==Notes and references== | | ==Notes and references== |
| | <references/> | | <references/> |
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| | + | [[Category:Literature]] |