Welcome to Aesop's fables page!
About Aesop's Fables
As a genre fables are close to the artistic atmosphere of fairy tales about animals. Observing the life and characteristics of animals, the fabulist makes a comparison between them and the moral characteristics of men.
Trickery is not only exclusive to the fox, calmness - not only for pigeons, deceit - not only for the snake, cowardice - not just for rabbits. All these properties can be encountered in the conduct of people. Seeing these similarities, people began to call one another fox, snake, rabbit in their domestic relations. But the images of animals and plants also have a parabolic meaning. The donkey began to express the characteristics of a hard and stupid man, the sheep - of the gentle and harmless, the snake - of the evil and vindictive, and the wolf reveals the nature of an evil and cruel man.
In that sence Aesop summarizes the essential morals of his time, giving them a satirical evaluation. To hide the sharpness of his critics, but also to provoke the resourcefulness in people, Aesop often likens people with animals and plants. This particular sense of expression has been associated with Aesop's fables throughout the centuries, starting from ancient Greece, going into Rome and Byzantium, reaching the Renaissance and surviving until today. Since the time of Aesop the fable was a powerful tool to expose and ridicule our ills and vices as people and as a society.
Aesop's fables may be short, but offer a wise lesson in the end. It is up to us to discover ourselves what is hidden
behind the images presented by the author.
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Page 1
Contents: The Cock and the Pearl; The Wolf and the Lamb; The Dog and the Shadow; The Lion's Share; The Wolf and the Crane
Page 2
Contents: The Man and the Serpent; The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse; The Fox and the Crow; The Sick Lion
Page 3
Contents: The Ass and the Lapdog; The Lion and the Mouse; The Swallow and the Other Birds; The Frogs Desiring a King
Page 4
Contents: The Mountains in Labour; The Hares and the Frogs; The Wolf and the Kid; The Bald Man and the Fly; The Woodsman and the Serpent; The Fox and the Stork
Page 5
Contents: The Fox and the Mask; The Jay and the Peacock; The Frog and the Ox; Androcles; The Bat, the Birds, and the Beasts
Page 6
Contents: The Hart and the Hunter; The Serpent and the File; The Man and the Wood; The Dog and the Wolf; The Belly and the Members; The Hart in the Ox-Stall
Page 7
Contents: The Fox and the Grapes; The Horse, Hunter, and Stag; The Peacock and Juno; The Fox and the Lion; The Lion and the Statue
Page 8
Contents: The Ant and the Grasshopper; The Tree and the Reed; The Fox and the Cat; The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing; The Dog in the Manger; The Man and the Wooden God
Page 9
Contents:The Fisher; The Shepherd's Boy; The Young Thief and His Mother; The Man and His Two Wives; The Nurse and the Wolf
Page 10
Contents: The Tortoise and the Birds; The Two Crabs; The Ass in the Lion's Skin; The Two Fellows and the Bear; The Two Pots; The Four Oxen and the Lion
Page 11
Contents: The Fisher and the Little Fish; Avaricious and Envious; The Crow and the Pitcher; The Man and the Satyr; The Goose With the Golden Eggs
Page 12
Contents: The Labourer and the Nightingale; The Fox, the Cock, and the Dog; The Wind and the Sun; Hercules and the Waggoneer; The Man, the Boy, and the Donkey
Page 13
Contents: The Miser and His Gold; The Fox and the Mosquitoes; The Fox Without a Tail; The One-Eyed Doe
Page 14
Contents: Belling the Cat; The Hare and the Tortoise; The Old Man and Death; The Hare With Many Friends
Page 15
Contents: The Lion in Love; The Bundle of Sticks; The Lion, the Fox, and the Beasts; The Ass's Brains; The Eagle and the Arrow; The Milkmaid and Her Pail
Page 16
Contents: The Cat-Maiden; The Horse and the Ass; The Trumpeter Taken Prisoner; The Buffoon and the Countryman; The Old Woman and the Wine-Jar; The Fox and the Goat
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